Truth and Lies
by rileyonline
Summary: Sakura Haruno. Passionate. Medical Ninja. Loyal to the last. But what happens when she inherits a power strong enough to crush life itself? AU. Eventual ItaSaku and NaruHina. Manga Spoilers.
1. It Begins

**BETA'd: 29****th**** Nov 08**

**(A/N) This is Truth and Lies (BETA), i.e. the Truth and Lies that I'm happier with. I've taken more time with this one, and hopefully it will have more of an impact. It is delightfully AU, yet sticks to the Canon storyline, with several marked changes throughout. So expect Manga spoilers. MASSIVE ONES.**

Now, Godaime, Sannin Tsunade was a patient person. Sure, she snapped when things got on her nerves… when people just don't listen… when Shizune reminds her of her ever-increasing debt… who wouldn't? But she was, when push came to shove… _patient_.

Or at least that's what she kept telling herself. In order to try and control her temper, she took to making an ever-growing list in her head of what Hokage's don't do.

_Hokage's don't snap unless the village is in danger. Hokage's don't snap when their hidden bottles of Sake mysteriously disappear. Hokage's don't snap when certain knuckleheaded ninjas refuse to go on a mission… _

_and Hokage's… _

_do NOT snap…_

_When their apprentice is sleeping on the job._

Her blonde eyebrows were slowly beginning a descent down her forehead as she eyed said pink haired kunoichi, lying on the head medic nin's prized sofa in the head medic nin's office (the head medic nin, of course, being Tsunade herself), in her medic uniform, her head thrown back, mouth wide open, snoring.

Haruno Sakura had been her apprentice for four years now, and was nearing the end of her training with Tsunade. Throughout those four years she had always been prompt (largely through fear of death/pain/near-death experience at the hands of her master), always accomplished the tasks Tsunade had given her with finesse, and had never, _never_ let her down. It was almost irritating what a brilliant, perfect even, student she had been, which was why the sight in front of her hadn't annoyed her, but worried her.

She placed her hand on her student's forehead, checking her temperature.

_Everything normal there…_

She continued her examination by sight alone, making sure not to wake her _until_ she was positive that this wasn't an infection of some sort. As she gradually made the deduction that there were next to no signs of anything different, apart from some obscure Chakra readings which were most commonly caused by sleep, her temper returned to its usual ready-to-blow state.

_She's not ill. She's having a _nap… _in MY office… on MY sofa… _Her eyes widened as they rested on a pair of black boots on the opposite end of the sofa._ WITH HER BOOTS ON._

"Sakura!" Tsunade said loudly.

This appeared to have next to no effect, other than to make said kunoichi roll over and start snoring louder than ever.

"Sakura!" She tried again.

"Mmm… five… five more minutes…" Sakura mumbled in her sleep before she collapsed into snores again.

_This is the third time this week._ Tsunade thought to herself, eyeing the kunoichi with a little worry and not a little frustration in her eyes. _What's making her so tired all of a sudden?_

She stared at her, and finally, some five milliseconds later, she lost patience.

"_HARUNO SAKURA!_"

Sakura started, literally jumping several inches of the sofa, then she landed very unceremoniously on the floor, her arms and legs in a heap, and her nose at her shishou's feet.

She immediately stood up, blushing furiously. "Tsu-Tsu-Tsunade-shishou!" She looked back at the sofa, then scratched the back of her head, plastering the fakest, most welcoming smile on her face. "Wh-What are you doing here… this time of day?"

Ignoring Sakura's attempt at saving herself from interrogation, Tsunade pressed on. "That's the third time this week you've fallen asleep on duty." She said, her voice was stern, but her eyes told a different story… she was worried about her student.

Sakura paused, then put on her best cover-up voice, "Ohh, it's nothing really! I probably just need an early night or something." She said, again trying to use the fake smile to her advantage. However, Tsunade didn't miss the bafflement spark in Sakura's eyes. It seemed that she didn't know either. She hadn't been working any late or night shifts at the Hospital, she was definitely getting enough sleep…

"Hm." Tsunade said, eyes watching her. "Have you been training much recently?"

"A little." Sakura lied, _I've been too tired to train…_

Tsunade paused, "Maybe it's the overuse of your Chakra. You have been taking part in some major operations recently… you should go home. Get some rest."

Sakura nodded and bowed, "Thanks, Tsunade-shishou."

When she stood straight again, she made to walk past Tsunade, when the Hokage held her arm out and stopped her, a sudden, alarmed look in her eyes.

"What?" She gasped, and Sakura tensed, looking worried.

"What is it?"

Tsunade scanned her face for a few moments, then dropped her arm and looked away, deep in thought. "Ohh… it's nothing."

Perplexed, Sakura stared at her for a few moments, then left, deciding it was high time she went to bed.

_Was that… did I just see…? _She thought. _Her eyes…_

--Her memory flicked back momentarily to a time sixteen years ago where--

Tsunade shook herself out of it. _No… that's impossible._

--

The streets of Konoha were abnormally quiet for that time in the afternoon, and for once, Sakura was grateful. Not only was she having trouble keeping her eyes open, but she was pretty damn sure she was getting a migraine. She ran her fingers over her face, feeling the sagged skin under her eyes and sighing, then ran it through her frizzy hair, wincing as her fingers came into contact with her scalp.

Yup, she looked a mess. She knew it, and if anyone else was around, they would have known it as well. She let out a loud sigh.

"Sakura?" A lazy, male voice greeted.

_Great,_ She thought, _somebody to stop me sleeping._

She looked up at the person who had spoke, and found herself blinking and squinting to try and work out who it was. Finally, she saw a mask.

"Kakai-sensei." She said, forcing a smile onto her face. "How are you?"

"Letting life take me where it will. The usual." He said casually. Feeling no more need to talk to him and desperate urge to get to her bed, she veered slightly to the left in an attempt to carry on walking, and she ended up bumping straight into him, causing him to grunt as she did so. "Sakura, are you all right?"

She looked at him. "Mm fine."

"Do you want to sit down?" He asked, a slight tinge of worry in his voice now.

She shook her head, and immediately wished she didn't, as it sent her vision more blurred than ever.

"I have to get home. I _need sleep_. I'm not feeling well…" She said.

Kakashi raised a silver eyebrow. "That much is obvious. Have you spoken to the Hokage?" He asked.

Not wishing to answer anything that required her memory, she blinked, and saw a flash of purple. "That a new book?"

"Oh yes, it's the latest in the Icha Icha Series!" Kakashi seemed to perk up immediately, and now he was banging on about his new muse, Sakura was able to tune out of what he was saying, desperately trying to think through her pounding headache.

_God, sleep… I need sleep…_

She blinked again, and even though she could still clearly hear Kakashi's voice, she could no longer make out any of his features.

_What… what's happening… to me…?_

The ground under her felt like it was moving away from her, her body felt hot, her eyes were searing with pain, and –

"A-Ahhhh!" She let out a shout of agony as the headache intensified dramatically. She clutched the sides of her head, almost certain that something akin to needles were stabbing their way into her, while others scratched her eyes.

_Shit – what is – this? Genjutsu? No… Taijutsu? Definitely not… Ninjutsu? I don't think so…_

_Then what the HELL is this?!_

After a few moments it stopped. Blinded mostly by shock, she absentmindedly noted the telltale rushing of blood to her head, and she fell forwards, straight into the arms of a horrorstruck Kakashi.

"_Sakura_!" He gasped, "Sakura – can you hear me?!"

"What's – happening?!" She asked, her hands going to the surprisingly cold floor, the brief moment of shock giving her the moment she needed to think and recuperate.

"Sakura – Sakura look at me!" He said, turning her head to face him.

She looked, then immediately wished she hadn't, feeling as though she was suddenly staring straight into the sun. The light didn't fade even when she closed her eyes.

"Kakai-sensei! Sakura-chan!"

_Oh no. Not Naruto. Please, not him. Not now._

"Sakura-chan?" It was. That was all she needed, a loud voice and horrendously bright clothes to make her headache a billion times worse. She couldn't blame him for being worried, when the Hokage's Medic-nin apprentice collapses in the middle of the street with no idea what was happening to her, that was _reason _to be worried.

"Naruto! Go and find the Hokage! Quickly!" Kakashi ordered. She felt the vibrations in the ground as Naruto sprinted towards the Hospital. Her fingers ran against the cold floor beneath her, the vibrations of Naruto's Chakra reverberating through them and the rest of her as he ran.

"Sakura?"

Kakashi's voice echoed, mixing in with Naruto's obscenely loud footsteps.

Lost in the cacophony of noise that surrounded her, Sakura's mind finally gave in, and the world went white.


	2. A Rin'negan User

**BETA'd: 22****nd**** January 2010**

**Disclaimer for all chapters (seeing as i missed it last chapter, oops): Naruto isn't mine. If it was I doubt I'd be writing a Naruto fanfic.**

"What's happened to her?"

_So bright…_

"We can't honestly understand it ourselves."

_Everything… so bright…_

"Is Sakura-chan gonna be ok?"

_And… what is this feeling…?_

"Her eyes… I've seen them only once before… although… he was younger…"

_Like I can… do anything…_

"So she'll be able to use eye techniques?"

_Be anything…_

"That much is certain."

_Change anything…_

"But… that eye jutsu… what is it?"

_Like the world is in the palms of my hands._

"I thought the Haruno's weren't a ninja family…?"

_But this… this isn't me…_

"They aren't."

_I'm not supposed to be like this…_

"Then how does she have a bloodline limit…?"

_I'm a medical ninja… that's all I want to be…_

"I thought only the Hyuuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan could use eye techniques…?"

_Help people… get stronger… so when the time comes…_

"Because Sakura wasn't born a Haruno."

_I can help bring Sasuke-kun back… that's my n… what?_

Her eyes snapped open, and she winced as everything became a lot brighter. She blinked, hard. Opening her eyes again, she wondered blankly where she was. Everything in the room was so _clear_, too clear, she could make out each of the hairline cracks on the white ceiling tiles. Looking at them she could almost judge how old they were.

_This… am I…?_

She moved her hands up to her face, running her hands under her eyes and wincing as they seared with pain. She looked at her hands and flinched, each of the lines on her hands seemed so prominent, almost as if she'd aged in the time she'd been asleep.

_What the hell…?_

She moved her hands to the side of her body and sat up slowly, knowing that if she sat up too quickly, she'd more than likely black out. She was surprised by everything that came into her eye-line, everything was familiar, but at the same time, not.

She looked around her, and finally her eyes rested on the other people in the room. To her right was the Toad Sage, Jiraiya, on her left, Tsunade, and at the bottom of the bed were Shizune, Kakashi and Naruto.

All of them were staring at her with the same expression on their faces.

_Fear._

"I'm not a Haruno?" She asked quietly, none of them answered, all of them staring at her straight in the eyes, then looking away, then looking back. She looked to her left, "Tsunade-shishou?"

She bowed her head, her arms crossed under her bosom, "I'm afraid not."

Sakura stared at her, frozen for a few moments, her hands clenching and unclenching on her quilt.

"What do you mean? How can I not be a Haruno?" She asked sharply, "My mother she…"

Her mother, the woman who had constantly cared for her, accepted when she was sent away on missions and left her alone in the house, accepted that she was doing what she wanted, who was as accepting and supportive as any parent could be when their child decided to live a life filled with danger.

_How can she not be my mother?_

"I brought you here from the Hidden Rain Village when you were a baby." Jiraiya said, and Sakura flinched as she processed this new information, "As a request from your brother. He wanted you to be raised away from the war there."

_Oh. Right. And I'm the greatest Ninja that ever lived._

"Is this a joke?" She asked, feeling a minute wave of relief as she thought about this. "A prank? Naruto?"

He half-smiled back, still staring at her straight in the eyes.

"This isn't a joke…" Jiraiya said quietly, "We were hoping we could… keep the truth from you but…"

His eyes focused on hers, and his voice faded into silence.

She stared back at him, once again overwhelmed by how much she could _see_. The minute scars on his face from many battles, scars that had long since healed, but to her, were still there, as clear as day, if you only _looked_ hard enough.

She flinched as he seemed to glow an electric blue for a moment, and his whole body was _moving_, _glowing_, all of him was…

Moving.

Blue… glowing… and moving.

_Is that… Chakra? _She thought in awe, then looked down at her arms, staring at the lines that seemed as clear as day. She looked at the others and saw their Chakra too.

_Amazing_. She thought, a smile coming onto her face, moments before she realised just exactly what she was doing, and the smile slid off her face just as easily and as quickly as water flowed off a ducks back.

"It seems you'll have to learn how to activate and deactivate that new power of yours." One of the tall groupings of Chakra said. She blinked at him, who she now recognised to be Kakashi.

"_What… _is _this_?" She asked, feeling her heart starting to pound against her chest, she pulled the quilt off her and stood up, moving quickly towards the door.

_My eyes…_

_What has happened to my eyes?!_

She had to see for herself.

"Sakura – wait-!" Shizune was suddenly thrown back against the wall away from Sakura. Horrified by what had just happened, Sakura moved towards her to see if she was all right, her eyes wide with horror. Shizune flinched as she came near her, and Sakura flushed.

She noticed out of the corner of her eyes how both Kakashi and Naruto had instinctively backed away. None of them shouted Shizune's name… almost as if they'd _expected_ what would happen.

"It has been said…" Jiraiya continued, "The later _that_ eye jutsu awakens, the stronger the awakening."

Sakura turned slowly and looked back at him. Shaking with shock.

"You may have difficulty controlling it…" He said gently.

She turned back to face the door, seeing only her outline in the window there.

"What am I gonna do?" She asked,

"The first step is controlling it. Your emotions, especially."

Sakura looked at Shizune, who was holding the back of her head, wincing. Seeing that wince was enough.

She had to get out of that room. Now.

She pulled the door open, almost ripping it off its hinges and rushed down the hallway, ignoring the shouts for her to remain, she had to see for herself.

She couldn't help but notice how everyone in the hallway who saw her and smiled, found their smiles fade away and eyes start to pierce as they stared her in the face.

_I have to see them._

She dodged lots of people on her way to the toilets, the two parts horrified, two parts confused looks on their faces engraving into her mind as she did.

Finally reaching her destination, she threw the door open and ran to the mirror.

_Oh… God._

She was frozen, transfixed, at her reflection in the mirror. Her hands moved up to her face, trying to find something that she could recognise in that horrifying reflection.

Her hair, still pink, her face, still pale, her mouth, still there, but her eyes…

Her once distinctive emerald green eyes no longer even _looked _like eyes.

A series of concentric circles widening out from the pupil were what were there now, and there seemed to be utterly no colour difference between her iris and her retina. She moved closer to the mirror, staring from one to the other.

Oh, they were still distinctive all right. But distinctive for an entirely different reason.

She thought blankly that they probably looked like swirls from a distance, making her look like one of those cartoons where one of the characters was being hypnotised.

Slowly, everything that Jiraiya had said was sinking in.

She covered her mouth, and started stepping backwards until her back was against one of the cubicles. Her eyes still rooted to those in the mirror.

_I brought you here from the Hidden Rain Village when you were a baby. At a request from your brother, he wanted you to be raised away from the war there._

Her heart was pounding again, but now for an entirely different reason. She started to shake, and her legs crumpled underneath her.

_This isn't a joke… we were hoping we could… keep the truth from you but…_

Her sight clouded for the first time since she'd woken with those new eyes, searing with tears that she had no chance of stopping. She pulled her knees up to her chest, gripping her hair in her fists, burying her face in her knees.

"Sakura?"

She started and looked up, her eyes focusing on the woman standing in the doorway.

Standing there was Haruno Haruka, the villager whom Sakura had believed to be her mother all her life. A part of her was angry that she hadn't told her the truth, but the rest of her emotion was darkening into grief.

She buried her face in her knees once more, not wanting to see the fear-blinded expression on the face of her mother.

Instead however, she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and her mother crouch beside her. Unable to resist the comfort she had always given without question, Sakura rested her head on Haruka's shoulder, and allowed the tears to flow.

-

"So that's the Rin'negan?" Kakashi said, his eyes on the Toad Sage, who seemed to be the one with the most information about Sakura's new ability. "The legendary eye jutsu of the Sage of the Six Paths… I thought it was just that, a legend."

"Once upon a time so did I… but it isn't… although… I didn't expect it to awaken in two people." Jiraiya said, his brow furrowed, his arms crossed, deep in thought.

"So what does that mean then?" Naruto asked, looking at Kakashi, "Sakura-chan has some seriously cool jutsu, like Neji and Sasuke?"

"I don't know. I've never looked into it in too much depth." Kakashi said, scratching the back of his head.

_Well. That's a first_. Naruto thought absently.

"What it means, is that we're going to have one exceptionally powerful Ninja in our village." Jiraiya said finally, causing Naruto's eyes to widen in surprise. "Her brother could manipulate any of the five elements at will. Added to that, he could copy any jutsu he ever witnessed, other than kekkai-gengkai, and will have learnt it to perfection, just by watching it."

Kakashi's only visible eye widened, stunned by this latest revelation. "And you said before that the later it awakens..."

"The stronger it is." Jiraiya nodded, "Sakura will surpass all of us within a month, there is no doubt about that."

Naruto watched how both of their expressions darkened.

"Isn't that a good thing?" He asked, even though a part of him was telling him, _no, Naruto, power is never a good thing._

"If any of the other villages get word of the fact that there's a Rin'negan user in our village... we're going to be in serious trouble." Jiraiya explained.

"What do you mean?"

They both sighed. Sixteen or not, Naruto was still as clueless as ever.

"It means that our village is the most powerful... and can be seen as a threat." Kakashi murmured darkly,

Naruto stared at him. "But Sakura-chan's - Sakura-chan! How could she be seen as a threat?!"

"_Because _of the Rin'negan." Jiraiya said, "We have to make sure it doesn't go out of this room what has happened to Sakura. Or at least what eye jutsu she now possesses. That means keeping your mouth shut, Naruto."

Naruto nodded.

"If Danzou finds out about her... or even the Elders..." Kakashi bowed his head, "I dread to think what would happen."

Naruto looked up again, and finally he remembered Danzou as being Sai's superior. The leader of Root. The one who put missing-nin's in a bingo book. The one who saw any person who was a threat to the village as collateral damage...

_No._

His eyes widened. "They'd _kill_ her?"

The silence after his question answered it for him.

**(A/N) Haruka – means spring flower in Japanese, thought it'd be nice and ironic. The rest of the chapters are going to be BETA'd so if your new to reading this, please note that the next few chapters are of a lesser standard. Cheers ^_^**


	3. Suspicion

**BETA'd 22****nd**** January 2010**

Sakura was standing opposite Kakashi in the training ground, her pose showing her intent. She remembered a conversation they'd had earlier on after her mother had left the Hospital, when he had told her of the Rin'negan's danger to the village.

"_Do you understand, Sakura?"_

_She didn't answer, her gaze straight ahead, she had more or less been declared an enemy of Peace, just because she had the Rin'negan. If she thought it would make any difference, she would rip her eyes out of her head, but she had guessed that they would have contemplated that while she was unconscious._

_Kakashi sat down on the chair front of her, and it was only then, while watching his usual startled-shrub haircut being blown about that she noticed how the draft in the room had become more of a gale. She wondered briefly whether this was to do with her eyes, whether this was what Jiraiya meant about her controlling her emotions. But at the same time, she couldn't seem to care. "Sakura." He repeated._

_She felt a twinge of irritation as her eyes clouded once again. _It doesn't matter_, she thought, _there's no way I'll have enough tears for this.

"_What am I going to do?" She asked finally, her voice low and monotonous, "My mother isn't my mother. Who I thought I was isn't me. I have no idea how much power I have. I can endanger people's lives if I get over emotional. If anyone finds out I have this eye technique, it could end up causing a political dispute… Kakai-sensei… what the hell am I going to do?"_

_Strangely enough, Kakashi smiled, his eye crinkling. "You'll act as if nothing has happened. You'll go about your business, day by day, and still be Haruno Sakura. Nobody will think any different."_

_She stared at him, "Is that even possible?"_

_Kakashi's smile faded, _"_Honestly, I'm not sure. But what I do know for certain is I'll still be your sensei, and you'll still be a medical ninja." He said, "You just have to learn to curb your emotions, like any Shinobi does anyway, and we will have one-on-one training sessions to see how far your strength can be stretched. Don't worry, Sakura."_

"_But if they find out-!"_

"_We'll worry about that if and when it happens… for now though, try to relax."_

_Finally, the gale in the room calmed, and Sakura nodded._

So that's what she was going to do. Train with Kakashi-sensei. Act normal. Relax. That's no problem, right?

_Yeah. _She thought bitterly. _Easier said than done._

Other than the fact she had to keep a genjutsu constantly cast on her eyes at all times to make them appear to everyone else as her original trademark emerald green, she was near enough _constantly _distracted because everything was so _clear_. She actually got _lost_ for the first time in years because she could barely recognise the buildings.

Her abilities as a Medic had both enhanced and deteriorated due to her new sight. For one thing, she could no longer decide when a scar was invisible or visible and ended up using too much Chakra, to the point where the Genjutsu on her eyes almost failed. _That_ was a mistake she couldn't make more than once. On the other hand, when she did heal someone she could clearly see the Chakra pathways, and could immediately see exactly _where_ someone was hurt without having to conduct an in-depth examination. Not that she could tell _them _that, and therefore couldn't do _that_ more than once either.

Fighting however, was another matter. What stunned her immediately was how simple fighting, which she had never truly excelled at, had become. It was like Kakashi was moving in slow motion, his handsigns were so _readable_ she could've sworn he was doing it on purpose.

In fact, the simplicity of it almost made her laugh. Almost.

She was enjoying being able to block or dodge all of his attacks, taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu with no trouble whatsoever, in fact, she started to feel the explosive emotions of her old self coming back to her as she got into the flow.

That was, until she struck him.

"Hah! Got you!" She lunged out, forgetting briefly that after so many years studying under Tsunade she was naturally attuned with her Chakra, and finally managed to strike him full on in the face.

The impact was something so violent, so _terrible_, she didn't notice the real Kakashi coming up behind her. The Substitution jutsu, the clone that had been before it, _burst_, exploding from inside out before the release came, and when it did the log that Kakashi had used was dust.

In fact, Kakashi too had stopped, an unreadable expression in his eye as he stared at the place where his clone had been.

Sakura looked back at him, her eyes wide, "Sensei… I…!"

Kakashi nodded, eyes wide. He hadn't missed seeing his whole body burst, her attack striking him with the force of a bomb. He knew he was lucky, _very_ lucky, that he hadn't underestimated Sakura's abilities, if he hadn't substituted himself _seconds _before she struck him…

Finally, he managed to form words, struggling to keep his voice nonchalant, "Well. I think we can safely rule out you using Chakra in your fists while we're training."

She nodded fervently, still shaken. "If… if I'd actually…"

The notion wasn't lost on him either. She would have killed him, he really _would _have exploded. End of Hatake Kakashi. Killed by a _punch_.

Kakashi frowned as he thought sardonically. _What a way to go._

His eyes focused on Sakura's and widened in horror,

"Sakura! Your eyes!"

She'd evidently been so shocked by the force of her attack that she had lost control of the Genjutsu on her eyes.

She flinched and immediately formed the handsigns.

What neither of them had noticed, however, was the fact they had been watched by an ANBU member, who had been drawn to the fight due to the levels of Chakra being used. He had believed it to be a training session between Jiraiya and Tsunade, he was surprised when it was in fact just a Pink-haired Kunoichi and the Copy Ninja.

The kunoichi however…

_An eye jutsu?_

He moved forwards stealthily among the shrubbery.

_That's definitely not Byakugan… she would have noticed me by now…_

His eyes widened as he saw the vivid circles on her otherwise perfectly white retina.

_Is that…?!_

He leapt out of the bushes and sped away from them at top speed, not bothering to conceal his presence.

_I have to tell Danzou-sama._

Kakashi turned and looked in the direction of the shrubbery, having heard a sudden rush of leaves from around there. He watched each of the leaves that had been kicked up float steadily towards the floor. His eyes narrowed.

"Come on Sakura, lets go for a drink. You look like you need it." Kakashi said quietly.

"I…" She stared at him, "I'm so sorry, Kakai-sensei…"

"Don't worry about it. Come on."

They both left the training area, Kakashi continuing to reassure Sakura with 'It's ok''s, and 'you didn't know''s as she continued to apologise. After a while, she accepted and they both walked along in silence.

He looked sideways at her, hardly able to conceive of how the naïve, lovestruck twelve-year-old had become… _this_… this shinobi who could rip someone apart molecule by molecule just by striking them with a punch. He had always believed deep down, however much he hated to admit it, that Sakura was the weakest member of Team Seven. Sure, she'd often rivalled Sasuke when it came to intelligence, but when it came to fighting, she was always the one who had to be protected. Even after her tutelage under Tsunade she still didn't rival Naruto when it came to actual combat.

But now…

_How wrong I was._ He thought darkly. _What a team they could have been if Sasuke hadn't left. They'd have been _unstoppable.

He looked away when Sakura's eyes flicked in his direction.

_He's staring at me._ She thought sadly. _He stares at me in the same way all the others do. Like I'm a walking time bomb._

Once they had reached the heart of the village, among the café's and the bustling villagers going about their day-to-day business, Sakura reached the end of her tether.

_Still he stares. Even now._

"Shizune!" Kakashi said suddenly, catching Sakura off guard.

Sakura turned and looked in the direction he was. She didn't miss the slightly fearful look in Shizune's eyes as she looked at her. And that smile did seem a little forced.

"Shizune-senpai…" She greeted stiffly,

"Sakura, remember to report to Tsunade-sama later." Shizune said, and Sakura nodded.

"Hai."

Once again, Shizune gave her that look.

Finally, Sakura's anger started to kick in.

"Kakai-sensei." She said sharply, "I'll see you later."

She walked away from the pair, forcing herself to calm down.

"Sakura? I thought we were going to the café?" He called after her.

_Hah. No thanks._ She thought darkly.

She wandered along the street and was immensely grateful that nobody else gave her _that_ look thanks to the Genjutsu she'd placed. Some of them even _smiled_ at her, recognising her as either 'Haruno Haruka's daughter' or as 'Hokage-sama's top student'. It was a nice break from what she was slowly getting used to.

Finally, she stopped meandering aimlessly when she realised she was standing outside Ichiraku's Ramen Stall. She didn't know why, but after seeing the 'looks', and smelling that delightful scent of soup and pasta, she had a sudden, overwhelming urge for Ramen.

She pulled back the drapes and walked inside, stopping in her tracks as she saw a young man clad in bright orange sitting there.

_Idiot._ She chastised herself. _You should've known he'd be here._

She turned away making to leave again, when he twisted in his seat.

"Sakura-chan!" He said brightly, his always too-wide grin stretching from ear to ear as he gazed at her. Her heart warmed and she smiled back. That smile alone was _exactly_ what she needed.

"Naruto!" She said just as brightly, sitting down beside him. She looked up at the proprietor,

"What can I get you?" He asked, smiling too.

"Miso ramen." She grinned, "And make it a large one."

"Coming right up."

"Huh?" Naruto asked, "I thought you were on a diet!"

Sakura stared at him, then laughed. "You saying I need to be on one?"

"No." He said, his eyes widening with a dawning horror.

Her cheery façade snapped at that one look from him. She looked towards the proprietor, "Actually forget it."

She turned away and made to walk out, but stopped as Naruto grabbed her arm.

"Hey you can't just leave. It's Ramen!" He said, then his tone lowered, "Besides… you look like you need it!"

She blinked at him, and in that same moment, she realised that Naruto was the perfect person to talk to about this. He had suffered with it all his life, after all.

She sat down again, crossing her arms on the table in front of her.

"What is it?" He asked quietly,

"Shizune and Kakai-sensei." She answered softly, "They look at me like I'm about to kill them any minute. I don't see how I can go back to being me, being Sakura, when they keep on treating me different to how they used to."

Naruto bowed his head over his Ramen bowl. "Ignore them, Sakura. The only thing that's important is what you think of yourself. If they want to be like that, they can go to hell. And it might not be what you think. They could be worried about you. Baa-chan sure is."

"But it's more than that…" She said quietly, "Their _eyes_… Naruto…"

He stopped eating at that, his azure blue eyes looking into the middle distance. The briefest spark of pain becoming apparent for a second, right before he shook himself out of it.

"Like I said. Ignore them." He said, now diving back into his bowl of ramen with more vigour than before. "Dey're being stoopid. You're mot scary… you're jus' Thakura-chan."

Sakura nodded at this, her lips curving slightly into a smile as she realised Naruto was right. After all, dealing with being ostracised was his area of expertise… other than being as perverted as Jiraiya.

"Thanks, Naruto." She murmured.

Suddenly, she felt her senses pick up on danger, and she noticed the proprietors stiffen, then she heard it.

"Haruno Sakura?"

She looked around to see two tall ANBU members standing there. Masks and all.

"We're placing you under arrest." For a brief moment she felt like saying, 'I'm not a Haruno, or didn't you hear?', but that was soon replaced by disbelief.

"_What_?! What the hell for?!" Naruto gasped in Sakura's defense.

"For possessing a forbidden eye jutsu."

"What?!" They both gasped this time. _Forbidden_ eye jutsu?

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sakura said abruptly.

"No idea, huh." The one on the left with the moved forwards to her, forming a handsign.

Sakura stiffened in response, realising what they were going to do. She knew she couldn't form a handsign without them attacking her, nor could she resist.

_Dammit._ She thought desperately.

The ANBU moved further forwards, even as Sakura leaned back over the counter, trying, in vain, to get away from his hands.

Finally he reached her forehead, and the telltale ripple across her eyes was enough to tell her the Genjutsu had dispersed.

"Seems as if the reports were correct." The left ANBU said to the right,

"Time to take her into confinement." The right ANBU answered almost mechanically.

Deciding there was no point trying to act oblivious, Sakura asked, "How can a kekkai-gengkai be forbidden!? It's not like I got it out of choice!"

"That is not of your concern."

"Not of my concern?" She gasped, "Your arresting me!"

"Are you going to come quietly, or will we have to restrain you?"

Sakura's flushed. "But this is ridiculous!"

"We won't ask again."

Her lips thinned into a white line. She knew she wouldn't be doing herself any favours by attacking the ANBU, she also knew that continuing to argue with them would be a _really_ bad idea, especially if she wanted to remain conscious.

Resignedly, she stood up, glowering at them both as she did. "Fine."

Naruto gaped. "But – Sakura-chan-!"

"I can't refuse, you know that." She said quietly, looking back at him, he opened his mouth to argue, "You can't help me if you're unconscious."

He blinked, understanding the meaning behind her words. He then nodded once, and he too glowered at her arrestors.

She moved forwards out of the stand. "Let's go."

**(A/N) Not as improved as I'd like, but it's better than it was =D**

**Next Chapter: The Truth**


	4. The Truth

**BETA'd: 23****rd**** January 2010**

In a torch-lit corridor in the underground of Amegakure, the only female Akatsuki member, Konan, was running. She didn't particularly enjoy running, preferring her usual origami ninpou to get anywhere, but this, _this_… Pein had to know about. And the only way to truly ascertain that he would receive the message, quickly, was to deliver it to him in person.

The message had come about five minutes before, while Konan had been on her usual patrol, observing the Village Hidden in the Rain with the help of her Origami-made wings. It was then, while she was flying, that she came straight into the flight path of a messenger bird from Konohagakure. It seemed there had been news from their spies in the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

At first glance it seemed like a regular report, fixed inside an inconspicuous brown tube that was attached to the end of the bird's leg. There was only one note, one small, seemingly insignificant note on the small scroll.

_It has awoken._

Those three words had caused Konan to go into one of her spectacular nosedives and land haphazardly on the stone cobbles. Her origami wings dissipated, and she had ran like she hadn't ran in years, leaving a huge trail of paper in her wake.

Those three words they, she and Pein, had been waiting for, for _years_.

It was because of this that she ended up running straight through the door at the end without a polite knock and a gentle click, but a fierce shove, and a loud slam.

Inside the room were the rest of the Akatsuki members other than Zetsu leaning against the four walls. Standing in the centre was Pein, who appeared to be in the middle of one of his speeches.

He looked sideways at her as she continued to rush towards him, and she saw his hypnotic eyes widen a little. She knew why. It had been a _very_ long time since Konan had rushed, by foot, anywhere.

"News from Konoha." She said simply,

"Saying what?" He asked,

"It's time."

His eyes widened instantly, and the others in the room looked around at Konan. Most looked curious, but Uchiha Itachi, as ever, looked indifferent, even though his Sharingan eyes had flicked towards her.

"… It's awakened?" He asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes, finally." Konan nodded, "The spies confirmed it."

"Good." Pein said, his gaze focused on Itachi and Kisame, who stepped forwards, ready for orders. "There is a girl in Konoha by the name of Haruno Sakura. Find her, and bring her here."

"And if she refuses?" Itachi asked,

"She won't." Pein said quietly, "The Leaf will already be wary of her. There's never been an easier time to collect her."

Kisame's shark-teeth bared into a grin.

"Wary?" He asked, "Why would they be wary of a girl?"

Konan bristled slightly. It was times like this she despised being the only female Akatsuki member. The often-outrageous sexist remarks that were made were what made her time with the other Akatsuki, when she had a choice, very brief.

Pein eyed Kisame. "Because, like myself, she has the Rin'negan eye jutsu."

There were a few gasps in the room; the most notable extremities of emotion came from Deidara and Tobi. Deidara looked as if he'd just been told the world had ended while Tobi started bouncing on his toes, utterly ecstatic.

"Another Rin'negan? Tobi is happy to add another eye-jutsu user to the gang, Tobi is!"

Deidara gave him an incredulous look and shoved him, hard, muttering loudly, "Baka Tobi! _Another _Rin'negan. A _female _version of Pein-sama, yeah?"

Konan resisted the urge to hit him. One more sexist comment and she would give them all the nastiest papercuts she could produce.

"What if she _does _refuse?" Itachi asked quietly, ignoring Deidara and Tobi's squabble behind him.

Pein looked at Konan, who could tell what he was thinking. It was evident that he didn't know whether to tell Itachi and Kisame to give the usual come-or-die instruction… or to allow Sakura to make her own choice. She grimaced at the thought, _she _didn't want to put Sakura in that situation either. After an unspoken conversation went on between them, Pein looked back at Itachi.

"You know what to do."

"If she's a Rin'negan user… won't that be a bit dangerous?" Kisame asked.

Pein shook his head, "No. It's only recently awakened. The quicker you get to her, the easier she will be to persuade." The tone of finality in his voice was enough for them to leave.

Slowly, the other Akatsuki members filtered out after being handed their mission details, all of them seeming so unbearably asinine to Pein in comparison to the mission he'd just given to Itachi and Kisame, which is why he was surprised when there was no one left in the room other than he and Konan.

Konan watched her partner and friend as he sat down on the floor, deep in thought.

She sat down opposite him. After several minutes of heavy silence, Pein spoke.

"Konan."

She looked at him. His eyes were dark.

"Did I make the right choice?"

Startled by his sudden self-doubt, she found herself needing a few moments to remember how to speak. "Pein-sama?"

Sighing, he stood up, and the dark emotion was once again absent from his face. He looked at her, and said in a commanding tone, "Find Zetsu and tell him to trail Itachi and Kisame. I want to see just how powerful her awakening was."

Konan stood, nodded, and left. She spared a glance at Pein, who was now facing the opposite way.

_Are you afraid, Nagato-kun? _

Shaking herself out of it, she left to find Zetsu; the conversation they had soon dismissed.

--

Many miles away, Sakura was being led down another dark corridor, this time in Konoha. She hadn't even known that such a place existed, though she believed this must have been near ANBU HQ. The ANBU members remained resolutely silent as they walked. She had tried to ask them questions, start a conversation, but all to no avail. It was like talking to a brick wall. Added to that, she was still wondering why on earth they handcuffed her. She had co-operated, hadn't she?

_This makes no sense. Why would ANBU arrest me? They're under Shishou's command, aren't they?_ She thought, hoping briefly that Naruto had gone to her to tell her what happened. _Unless…? No. Shishou wouldn't arrest me. Not without severe provocation._

A small, terrified voice made its way into her head. _But what if she knew about what happened with Kakashi? What if she's decided I'm too dangerous to be left roaming free around the village?_

_No_. Sakura thought vehemently, even in her mind she was loyal to her master. She _knew_ Tsunade wouldn't have ordered the arrest. She would have cautioned her, perhaps, but arrest? No way. That seemed to brash, way too impulsive a move.

_Then who_…?

She looked at the ANBU once more, their robotic nature and the way they walked pretty much identical to each other… how they answered each other's questions with no feeling behind their words… words for the mission alone…

Her frame froze.

_ROOT! _She moaned inwardly, which would mean there was only one person who they could be taking her to. Immediately she was filled with dread and repulsion as she thought of the brutal leader of the ANBU ROOT.

_Danzou…_

For the first time since she had accepted going with them, she contemplated escaping, after her conversation with Kakashi she understood the danger she was in.

She was an enemy of peace, someone who could cause a war to outbreak because of her immense abilities, and if there was one thing Danzou and ROOT specialised in; it was the annihilation of threats to the village.

She would have no trial and there would be no mercy. She was walking headlong into her execution. Her fists clenched at her sides. _I'm not dying without a fight._

A part of her knew that would only give them a justifiable reason to kill her, and if she did eventually go to trial she wouldn't be forgiven for her actions. She closed her eyes, reminding herself of the reason why, _because even if they are members of ROOT… they're still ANBU…_ she eyed the intimidating height and build of the two of them, _if I go against them… _her eyes rested on the leaf-symbol tattoo on the one to the right of her…_ I go against the village…_

_Dammit._

"Haruno Sakura." The ANBU said finally, and she flinched when the torch lights went out around her, her body suddenly hyper-aware.

In that same moment however, hidden doors to the side of their position swung open. Her eyes widened as she saw the dimly lit, cavernous room inside. One of the ROOT members shoved her inside, and the doors closed behind her. She looked around, her eyes finally resting on a large alcove on the opposite wall, where Danzou himself was sitting, flanked by two ROOT members.

Sakura immediately scowled. This was the man who had sent Sai to assassinate Sasuke. She eyed the bandages that covered his right eye, eyed the stick that he held in his right hand, and the scar at his chin.

_As always he just looks like a war-beaten, sadistic old man._

"So, you're Sakura." He pronounced gruffly, his eyes looking her up and down. Sizing her up, she assumed.

Either that or he was yet another old pervert.

She glared at him, deciding not to be polite since she could sense she was going to be attacked at any minute. "And you're Danzou."

He visibly bristled at her lack of respect. It seemed he had grown used to the honorific '-sama' suffix.

"And you're the new Rin'negan user in town." He said, deciding to ignore it.

_Congratulations! 2 out of 2 correct! Can you make a third? Or are you just going to annihilate me? _She thought mockingly, though she kept her face emotionless.

After a momentary pause, he continued, "I thought I should let you know a few home truths."

_Oh great. Torture before death, eh, Danzou?_

He paused once again, for someone who was infamous for his impulsivity he seemed to enjoy procrastinating. "First of all, you are the second Rin'negan user ever to come into existence." Danzou said, "The first… we are still having trouble catching."

_Catching?_ Sakura thought blankly, and after a few moments, she clicked.

"So you're after my brother as well." Sakura sighed, "Why won't you just-?"

"Brother…" He said mockingly, cutting across her, his eyes piercing with something akin to humour, "I'm guessing dear _Jiraiya _told you all there is to know about your supposed 'kekkai gengkai'?"

She stiffened. He spoke of Jiraiya like he was the dirt on his shoe. Her teeth gritted in anger.

"What if he did?" She asked, "I have every right to know about my real family and about my inheritance."

Danzou stared at her over his bandages, then suddenly, without warning, laughed.

Sakura bristled, resisting the urge to go over there and smack him.

"What… may I ask… is so funny?" She asked, using the majority of her willpower to stay where she was.

Danzou leered at her, causing his already wrinkled face to wrinkle even more. "You should know, Sakura, that your _brother,_ as you so lovingly call him, is the leader of the Akatsuki."

-

"Kakai-sensei!"

Kakashi looked up from his book to see a yellow and orange blur skid to a halt in front of him. Naruto was panting heavily, beads of sweat visible on the side of his face.

"Naruto. What's up?" Kakashi asked calmly. _Better not be something important… this book is the best by far from the Icha Icha series…_

"It's Sakura-chan!" Naruto gasped, panting heavily. "She's been arrested!"

Kakashi's only visible eye widened, snapping his book shut in an instant. "She's been _what_?"

"Arrested! Two ANBU came into Ichiraku's and took her away!" Naruto gasped, "What's Baa-chan playing at?!"

Kakashi paused, "I don't think she's behind it."

"What? Then who is?"

Kakashi's brow furrowed.

"Danzou. He must have found out somehow."

"Danzou?!" Naruto gasped, "But – but that means-!"

"Sakura's in serious trouble. We should go. Now."

They shot off at top speed towards the Hokage Tower and Tsunade, while Kakashi reluctantly placed his book in his weapons pouch.

-

Sakura's eyes widened with shock.

"You lie." She said immediately. _There was no way… how could…_ She thought rapidly, but then she realised she didn't know anything _about_ her brother, much less his leanings when it came to extremist factions such as the Akatsuki.

She stared at Danzou, a dawning horror on her face.

"Pein, he calls himself… his original name was Nagato apparently… but that's neither here nor there… the fact is… he has the Rin'negan, and with it he single-handedly started a civil war in Amegakure."

Sakura was still reeling from Danzou's first revelation. Her _brother_ was the Leader of the Akatsuki. She looked away, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to get her mind in order.

"Oh, I guess Jiraiya didn't tell you that, hmm?" Danzou asked, "No matter how much you sink into denial, it won't change the fact that your brother is a warmongerer."

She could do nothing but stare blankly at him, even as her mind replayed everything that had happened since her eyes awakened. No wonder Kakashi and Shizune looked at her like that. She was a blood relative of one of the most dangerous missing nin's ever to come into existence.

Pein… the starter of a civil war…

Nagato… the one who gave her to Jiraiya to be protected…

Pein… the reason Naruto and other Jinchuuriki were in danger… the reason why Gaara had nearly died…

Nagato… her older brother.

She frowned, gritting her teeth as all the contradicting thoughts hit her.

"This information, however, brings me to a very simple conclusion." Danzou said, looking at her over her his bandages and fixing her with an icy cold stare. "You and your brother are far too dangerous to be left alive."

Sakura jerked out of her reverie as her danger senses went into overdrive, and her leg acted of its own accord and struck the ANBU that had come up behind her, not as hard as she could have, but hard enough to wind him.

_Dammit… that was too close!_

Swinging her whole body around she managed to strike the other ANBU in the face with her handcuffed hands. This one seemed to put up more of a fight, causing her to back off towards the wall, as his Taijutsu assault intensified.

Deciding it was far too dangerous to remain handicapped, with a shot of her Chakra down to her fists she shattered the Handcuffs and returned his assault tenfold, finding it beyond _irritating_ that she had to hold back.

Finally, she managed to incapacitate him when a well placed sidekick sent him flying straight into the opposite wall, leaving hairline cracks when he struck it.

_I haven't… done anything…!_

She ducked as she felt the presence of yet another ANBU behind her and sweeped underneath him with her right leg, he dodged it easily and lunged at her with a kunai.

_Shit!_ She thought before forcing her Chakra down to her legs to dive out of the way, right into the course of another ANBU.

"You see, Sakura…" Danzou said quietly over the kafuffle, "One Rin'negan is bad…"

This ANBU managed to grab her by the neck, forcing her up against the wall.

"But two is catastrophic."

She saw one of them aiming a Shuriken at her, a painful reminder of Sasuke in his early days with Team 7.

_Team 7…_ she thought, _four years ago… seems more like a lifetime…_

_CHA! What the hell are you doing?! Stop reminiscing and get your ass in gear! _Her violent other half finally made itself known after years of being silent.

Sakura felt the world start to blacken, _what would Naruto do now…?_

_OI! Are you listening to me, baka?! If we don't do something NOW we're in serious trouble! Kick. Their. Arses!_

She gripped the arm of the ANBU holding her by the neck.

"I – haven't – _done_ – anything!" She cried, heaving gasps in between her words,

She heard a gruff chuckle as she said this.

"Your mother said the same. Well, your _adoptive_ mother." Danzou said.

Sakura managed to break free of the ANBU's restraint, her foot landing on the masked-face of this one as she struck him with a crescent kick, her heart pounding with a new dread as she processed what Danzou had just said.

"What… what are you-?" Sakura started, she threw her fist to the side to halt the oncoming attack of the next ANBU.

"I guessed that the only way to make you leave… would be to make sure you would never be able to return." He said, "I'm an old man now… I guess as my last job for this village would be to protect it from you… even if you are about to kill me."

"Last job-? What are you _talking_ about?" She started as the doors opened, and yet more ANBU arrived. It seemed as if the Root Division in its entirety had shown up. None of them seemed to notice how the once calm draft was now getting stronger and louder.

Danzou stood up.

"Your 'mother' is dead."

Sakura froze, her eyes wide, blinded momentarily by the image of her mother. Her kind, caring, ordinary mother. It was in this instant that her head snapped to the side as her right cheekbone was broken by a merciless punch, and she landed on the floor, black stars breaking out in front of her eyes.

"And the only suspect profile they will be able to come up with…" Danzou's voice filtered into her mind.

Danzou was walking forwards, until he was almost directly in front of her, beside the ANBU.

"Is that of a young lady…"

He leaned in, close to her ear, and Sakura stiffened, knowing what the final blow would be.

"With _pink hair_."

"_NO_!" She cried, her voice sounding utterly demonic and the ANBU members were blasted away from her by the Chakra that suddenly enveloped her whole form. Through the foglike remnants of Chakra, she caught a smug Danzou by the neck and shoved him against the wall, shaking with rage.

He smirked at her. "What are you waiting for, Sakura?"

She stared at him, her hand still tight around his neck. It was taking every strength she possessed not to obliterate him.

"Act on your revenge! Do it! Kill me and avenge your mother!" He demanded.

_Revenge._ With that one word she was reminded forcefully of Sasuke, and realised, finally, that after all the years of being desperate to, she understood him.

And she _hated_ it.

All those times when they were younger, where she tried to have a conversation with him, searching for hope of a happy future with the boy of her dreams… all those times, he'd been feeling this exact, same, _burning_ rage, and an unquenchable thirst for justice.

He had searched out Orochimaru, gone to the Devil's Lair itself to gain exactly that.

She looked at Danzou, feeling that to kill him would be the pulling of the trigger of a gun that would blast her soul off into infinity.

Just like Sasuke, there would be no way for her to turn back. Haruno Sakura would be gone forever, replaced by a vengeful murderer. She blinked at Danzou, and only one question came out of her dry mouth as her heart pounded painfully against her ribs. "Why?"

Danzou sneered, "You're too young and foolish to understand the true meaning of having a Rin'negan user in Konoha. The other villages would begin to see Konoha as a threat, putting the fate of the whole village at stake. With you being as… _volatile…_ as Tsunade, the secret would have escaped in no time. It is not in my nature to allow such a risk."

A hot, wayward tear slid down her face, leaving a searing path down her injured right cheek.

"But what about my mother? How could you…?!" Her voice didn't make it past her throat. The rage alone was enough to strangle it, and in doing so her grip became tighter around Danzou's throat. She looked directly into his cold, grey eyes, feeling a sudden sense of red-hazed clarity. She didn't seem to notice that one of her hands was forming handsigns of its own accord, firing jutsu's at the ANBU behind her, left, right and centre. "She was a civilian! She was _defenceless_!" She roared, "Why did you have to _kill _her?"

"Like I said before. To get you to _leave_, and not have any reason to come back, nor any back up from the villagers for that matter. It's worked before. Why not do it again?" He said softly.

Blank shock filled her as she processed his words, causing the red haze that had clouded her vision to dissolve, "You've… done this to someone else…?"

"Well, forced them to do it instead. Too much power is _always_ a bad thing." He said, then laughed, "Guess I'm also guilty on that one. By the way, you may want to watch what you're doing. Don't want the roof to cave in, do we?"

Startled once again, she looked around, and saw the many ANBU littered around the room, one was sliding down the wall to the floor.

She looked at her left hand, and she saw the lines of electric blue Chakra in it. Watching them seemed to calm her down considerably, and soon enough, they became invisible once more.

_He's done this to somebody else._ She thought. _I can't make the same mistake. If I do… he's won._

She fixed her cool gaze on Danzou. _I'm not a killer. You won't make me one. You don't have the right… or the ability._ With a not so small amount of effort, she uncurled her hand from around his neck, and took a step back.

"It's not the power that's the problem…" She said to no one in particular, looking back at her hands. "It's the person who controls it." She looked at him, "I could inflict any number of ailments on you. I could make you die in the most painful way possible, but I'm not going to. Want to know why?"

He stared at her, nonplussed at this new development.

"Because you're not worth killing." She started walking away from him towards the doors.

He blinked, shocked at being left both unharmed and in a room full of knocked out ANBU ROOT. "Where are you going?"

She didn't look back, but she murmured, "Home."

**(A/N) Helluva lot better. Still a bit quick, but it's better than it was 8D**

**Next chapter: Yin and Yang**


	5. Yin and Yang

**(A/N) First of all: Much thanks to all the wonderful reviewers for last chapter:** BlackButterfly-RedRose**,** 4everDestined**,** CrystalHeart27**, **xxx1xxx**,** Daughter of Unending Darkness**,** jackie-chan1230 **and** EverMindTheRuleOfThree**! Here comes Yin and Yang, as promised :P As a pre-warning, it's a whole bucketful of angst.**

"Home."

Danzou glared after her, furious that his plan hadn't worked. _Why the hell didn't that bitch kill him?_

"You have no home, Sakura." He declared, "Not in Konoha! Not on this planet!"

She stalked out of the room, not sparing him or the still-unconscious ANBU members a glance.

Danzou, however, smirked. Sure, it hadn't gone the way he'd planned, but that didn't mean it was going to end that way. Renowned for being the brutal, untrusting leader of the Root Division, he always, _always_ had a Plan B, no matter what the occasion.

From the second he'd heard of Sakura's power, he was determined this was going to be his last act for Konoha, protecting it from a mighty enemy.

If he was honest with himself, he had planned from the start that he'd die a ninja, a martyr of his country, not a withering, battle-wounded old man, like the fates seemed to have decided for him. The great Danzou... reduced to a bandaged old man with one eye and a walking stick.

It just so happened that Sakura had come along right when he'd had enough.

He looked around at the ANBU littered around him, in particular, their masks.

His lip curled once again and his smirk grew wider, for the masks themselves, unbeknownst to their owners, were rigged with explosives, set to go off as soon as Danzou himself performed the handsigns necessary. He knew from the start that the fateful day would come when the Root Division as a whole had to be sacrificed for the sake of the Village. And, as he predicted, the day had come.

Sakura was _not_ going to be able to stay in Konoha, unless she wished to be executed, or exiled, or both. She was going to be marked as the murderer of ANBU's root division, while Danzou would be seen as the victim of the piece. People would mourn his name, and curse that of the female Rin'negan user.

Danzou then looked down, his eyes on the spot where an exploding tag was hidden beneath his shirt, directly over his heart, and smiled. After all, no one could accuse the Leader of the Root Division of not being able to plan ahead.

He formed the handsigns, his eyes on the leaf tattoo of the ANBU lying across from him.

Once he'd formed the last handsign, he smiled, and murmured the Jutsu. "_For Konoha._"

_--_

_BOOM_.

Sakura fell to her knees as a powerful force blew her forwards. She coughed, blinking through the dust as she looked back at the room she'd just left.

_Danzou, again… _Sakura thought, _What the hell has he done this-?_

Immediately, the tinny, rank stench of blood breezed beside her. She covered her nose and mouth, a terrible sense of foreboding and nausea overcoming her.

She made to walk back, but as the smell became even stronger, Sakura felt, rather than saw what Danzou must have done.

Coughing, she turned away, her eyes wide. Tsunade had told her about Danzou being _callous _but this was something else.

"Did you hear that?"

"Quick, this way!"

Sakura whipped around, knowing that more ANBU were heading her way.

_SHIT!_ She thought, and without warning, nor direction, her Rin'negan flared, and the world disappeared in a swirl of pink and a shocking, bright blue.

Moments later, she found herself standing outside what looked like her own front door. She looked around, horrorstruck. Yep, definitely her door.

Realising that she must have somehow teleported at the last minute, she found herself once again surprised by her own power. She wasn't sure how many more surprises her nerves could take.

Sighing, she made to open the door, but her hand paused above the handle, remembering what Danzou had told her.

_"Your parents are dead."_

Through sheer force of will, she forced her hand down, and opened the door.

She rushed in; eyes jammed shut and closed the door behind her, her head against it, taking deep breaths. The immediate tinny stench of blood bombarded her nose once again and she frowned, her nose wrinkling.

She felt her eyes burn, _knowing_ what she was about to find.

"Sakura?"

Sakura's eyes snapped open and she let out a strangled cry of both relief and shock and looked around. The watery smile that she had somehow generated vanished in an instant once she saw the scene in front of her. Papers were strewn everywhere, chairs were on their sides, drawers were thrown to the other side of rooms... the house itself had been utterly ripped apart.

Lying amongst the ruins was her mother, who had suffered a wound to the stomach and to her head, her usual neat appearance was now the exact opposite, her clothes stained with masses of her own blood.

"Kaa-san!" Sakura said, then dashed forwards and landed on her knees next to her, no matter what the circumstances in which she found her, she couldn't suppress the pure, blinding relief at seeing that she was still alive. "It's all right, I'm here!"

There was hope. Her mother was alive; therefore there was hope that all wasn't lost. Hope that she may, perhaps, be able to stay in Konoha after all, for her mother was a witness to the crimes of the root division, was she not?

"Sakura," Mrs Haruno said softly, "Why…?"

Sakura looked at her, and watched a line of blood escape her mouth and fall down her porcelain skin and into her brown hair.

"Why… did they… do this…?"

Sakura stared at her, then cursed herself for not attending to her wound straight away. Once she saw the severity of it, however, her belief in a bright future started to shrink. "Kaa-san… it'll p-probably be best if you don't speak, save your strength-!"

"Sakura."

"I can fix this wound – just give me a-!"

"You… and I both… know it's too late… Sakura."

"No – don't say that-!" Sakura said, immediately getting to work with her medical ninjutsu, green Chakra pooling out of her hands. Even, in her mind she knew it was true, her heart refused to let her stop trying. She'd work to her last breath if it meant saving her mother's life.

But then a bloody hand gripped her wrist.

"Sakura. It's… all right."

Sakura looked fiercely at her mother, through the tears that were pouring constantly down her cheeks, "I can do this! I told you I'm a medic I can-!"

The sad look in her mother's eyes silenced her, along with the slight squeeze that she gave her hand.

"Kaa-san… _please_ let me _try_…" Sakura said, but the sad smile that her mother gave her told her a quite a firm 'no'.

So instead, she grasped hold of the bloody hand, clinging to it like a child with their favourite toy.

"It'll be all right…"

Sakura immediately found her voice as she thought about the unrealistic future of everything being 'all right', and she screamed, "How can you say that?! What the hell do you know about the future?!"

"I know that you're strong." She said, "Though I… never really supported you… becoming a ninja… though I never said it… I am… _so proud_ of you…"

Sakura looked away, didn't her mother realise how much those words burned her? How it hurt that after all these years… she was finally being honest? Changing the subject, Sakura looked back at the hand clenched in hers. "What should I do?"

"Find… your brother." The weak voice of her mother replied softly, "Leave… this place..."

Sakura stared at the clasped hands, fighting to remain comprehensible through her tears. "But this… is my _home_. Haruno Sakura, that's who I want to be." _Drip. _A tear splashed down her cheek and onto her knees. "I'm a Medical Ninja, that's ALL... I help people I... why can't... why can't I _stay_?"

"Sakura."

_Drip._

"Sakura, look at me."

She looked, and wished she hadn't. More blood had travelled down her mother's cheek, and by the colour, it was already starting to dry. They only had minutes left.

"This place... it's not your home... this place that kills innocent people... can you live with calling it... _home_?"

Sakura turned her head away from the heartbreaking sight, her eyes crinkling with tears. She couldn't help it. The agony was consuming her, and even as she fought back the tears, they still ran down her cheeks, burning the person she once was like hot acid.

"Let me _go_, Sakura. No more tears."

Haruno Sakura was being ripped beyond repair. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She looked at the wound, and her eyes set with renewed determination. She wasn't going to let her mother go without a fight.

"No. I won't have it!" Her ninjutsu burned brighter and stronger than before. "I'm not losing you! I can't!"

She froze when her mother sat up, her eyes on Sakura, and grasped hold of both of her hands, their joined hands glowed for a moment, as both pairs of eyes stared each other down.

"I have to try!" Sakura said, then her voice launched into a shout once again, "I _have to try_! You _hear _me! Let me try!" She made to push her mother back onto her back, but even in her weakened state, the maternal instinct was strong enough to keep her daughter from exhausting herself. Even when it meant that her death would come quicker.

Mrs Haruno sat there and watched the pink-haired girl she had brought up as her own fight and plead to let her help. "_Please_!" Sakura gave one last cry and she slid forwards onto her hands as her emotional barriers finally gave way, her sobs loud and broken.

Mrs Haruno pulled Sakura against her, her own eyes wide with tears. Sakura slid willingly against her, resting her head against her mother's chest as more tears rolled down her cheeks.

She felt fingers running through her hair, and it seemed to soothe her a little, but knowing how time was more against them now than it had ever been before did little to restrain her emotions. She seemed to diminish in size, until once again she was a little girl, being comforted after getting a scuffed knee.

"It'll be all right…" Her mother said once again, bringing her back down to reality, Sakura felt her mother start to weaken. Suddenly, however, she heard fear creep into her mother's voice. "_Sakura_."

Sakura lunged out to catch her just as her mother's strength gave way, and she rested her down on the floor.

"Okaa-san…"

Sakura stared at her mother's now lifeless face. Then lay her head against her, the tears still coming thick and fast. Then she felt something horribly hot and wet covering her arm.

She forced herself up, and stared at her arm, which was now covered in blood. She watched it travel down her arm, viscous and clogged. Her hand clenched into a fist.

_It'll be all right…_

Her arm started to shake and yet more blood trickled down, this time her own, and her eyes narrowed.

_I am… so _proud_ of you…_

She stood up and turned away from her mother's body.

_Drip. _The blood now made its way down to the floor.

She stared straight her head, her eyes fixing on nothing, the rage boiling inside her as she once again heard the fear in her mother's voice.

_Why… did they… do this…?_

Her teeth gritted, and she darted up the stairs. After furiously trying to wipe the blood of her arm, she changed quickly out of her bloodstained top, now opting for a sleeveless black top, kept her usual dark shorts, but switched her stained beige skirt for a white one.

_No more tears._

She walked to her mirror, and she found she could barely recognise herself. Her expression was no longer lively, but had a strange, dead look to it.

She moved her hand up and pulled off the Konoha headband, causing her bangs to fall down her forehead, resting just above her eyebrows. She eyed herself in the mirror for a few moments, then the glint of the headband caught her eyes.

She stared emotionlessly at the leaf symbol and was immediately reminded of the ANBU who had attacked her. Her hand clamped over it, the metal cracking a little, and with that, she placed it on her desk, where her eyes rested on the picture of Team Seven.

_What a joke_. She thought darkly. _We weren't a team. We were a farce._

She picked the photo frame up and eyed the people in it.

_Sasuke…_ She felt a burning sensation when she looked at him now, a dull ache of empathy in her heart, contrasting greatly with the somewhat immature heartbreak and loss she had felt before. _You were never part of us were you?_

She looked at Kakashi next, and found herself feeling next to nothing, which was bizarre, considering he had been a close friend and colleague of hers for quite some time. But, out of all of them, he was the one that mostly resembled Konoha's ideals. How many missions, after all, had he gone on without questioning them? Sakura felt nothing for Konoha anymore, except a deep-rooted disappointment. She wondered how Kakashi would feel when he found out that his supposed weakest student was a missing-nin.

She looked next at Naruto, who was, quite comically, glaring at Sasuke. He had grown up a lot in the past three years… and she supposed that he would quite willingly stalk her for the rest of her life in an effort to bring her back to Konoha. She bowed her head, her eyes sad. It was him, and only him, who she would regret leaving. He, after all, had suffered the same hatred. _Forgive me, Naruto._

Lastly, her eyes focused on the pink-haired girl in the middle. She turned the photo frame, so it was facing the mirror, and she looked into it. She could barely see any resemblance, other than the pink hair. She was staring at two sides of a coin, head and tails, Yin and Yang. The younger Sakura, was one whose mind constantly drifted back to Sasuke, the one who had been lied to all her life, but was happy; the older Sakura, herself, the one who knew her own existence had caused the deaths of so many others.

Her teeth gritted and she threw the photo violently against the mirror, causing both photo and mirror to smash.

After she shrugged on a black sweater and zipped it up halfway, she left out the window, unwilling to go downstairs and once again be forced to witness the mess down there.

She fled across the rooftops, knowing that there would be various ANBU members and other ninja she knew on the streets below. They would only serve as distractions from her goal.

She had to go to her brother; she had to leave Konoha.

**(A/N) That's probably the angstiest chapter. So if you dislike angst, fear not, this is the only really angsty angst chappy. As ever, review if you wish me to update, and CC is obviously an added bonus.**

**Next chapter: An Unexpected Reunion** _(Spoiler: Sakura KICKS ASS! But whose? Hmm…)_


	6. An Unexpected Reunion

**(A/N) Here comes 'An Unexpected Reunion', as promised. It's a BIIIG chapter, and a lot happens, so bear with me. Well… quite a lot. What can I say? The characters like to chat! Thirteen pages! THIRTEEN!**

**Much thanks to the amazing reviewers:** BlackButterfly-RedRose**,** TaintedImpurity**,** EverMindTheRuleOfThree**,** sabaku no hikari**,** The Silver Haired Demon**,** Mirai No Dinurs**,** xXHyuugaSakuraXx**,** Jackie-chan1230 **and **Daughter of Unending Darkness**. This shockingly long chapter is for you :D**

**--Just so you know, there may be a bit of NaruHina in upcoming chapters, how does everyone feel about that? I'll cut it out if you don't like, but I hope you do, cos that pairing just DEFINES perfect :D--**

Kakashi, Naruto, Sai and Tsunade were all sitting in the Hokage's office. Sakura had gone missing, and all thirty ANBU root division members had been found, massacred and indistinguishable from one another. Added to that, Sakura's adoptive parents had also been found dead in their house.

Linking in with Naruto's side of what happened, the evidence suggesting that Sakura was behind these attacks was absolute. The amount of bodily damage on every single one of them could only be give by someone with Chakra control that matched, if not rivalled, Tsunade's.

_Crack._

Naruto's hands were clenched so hard that his knuckles were cracking. He couldn't believe this. Sure, Sakura had her crazy moments, but go against ANBU?

"There's no way." He said, his voice rising, "There's _just_ no way! Sakura-chan wouldn't do this! She couldn't!"

Kakashi knew how he was feeling. It was emotionally exhausting to think that someone that you'd worked so closely with could suddenly turn psychotic with no plausible explanation. He remembered people having the same reaction to the Uchiha Massacre and the fact that in the space of a day the brilliant, _brilliant _Uchiha Itachi had become a formidable enemy of Konohagakure. To think that Sakura would soon be in a Bingo Book alongside the likes of _him _was incomprehensible.

Still, there was a nagging feeling inside him, something telling him that there was something off about the events. Similar to the feelings he'd originally had about Itachi's fall from grace. Something just _didn't_ fit.

Why? What was the reason behind it? What was the motive for such an abrupt slaughter?

Back then he had managed to persuade himself that he shouldn't try to understand a psychopath, but now it was his own student he couldn't stop himself.

Kakashi looked sideways at Tsunade, whose chin was resting on her clasped hands, evidently deep in thought. It seemed she was having the same trouble as he was. He then looked at Sai, who as ever, appeared unaffected by the events, which Kakashi couldn't help but feel surprised about. Especially since his emotions had developed slightly in the time he had spent in his team, especially with Naruto.

Naruto himself wasn't taking it too well. Kakashi couldn't imagine what it would feel like to have _both_ your teammates turn missing nin on you. Obviously he knew what it was like to lose teammates, but to have them die and to have them leave were two completely different things.

Naruto would be bent on bringing Sakura back. His obsession with the retrieval of Sasuke certainly hadn't aged with time. Now _both_ his teammates were missing…

"I'm going after her." Naruto said, making for the door. "I'm bringing her back. This is _not_ going to happen. Not again."

"Naruto. Sakura isn't the same as she was. Bringing her back… with her new power…"

"Sakura-chan is _still_ Sakura-chan. Why can't any of you see that? Sure she has the Rin'negan, but inside she's still herself, and she's scared of using that power. I don't believe that she killed anyone for a second, and you're all stupid if you do. She's been stitched up, _big _time." Naruto said.

Sai was watching him, again amazed by his loyalty to his bonds. What was it about Naruto that made him so desperate to keep people close to him?

"There's no way you can know that." Tsunade said quietly, sadly. This voice alone got Naruto to stop. He hadn't heard it from her before. "I know Sakura as well as you do, but… Uchiha Itachi was the same."

Startled by this revelation, Naruto's eyes widened.

"Itachi was beyond brilliant. He was the pride of the Village, and his Clan… then in one night, he went from pride and joy to murdering traitor." Kakashi continued, "Back then… almost everyone was having the same thoughts as you were. That it was impossible."

Naruto glared at Kakashi. "Sakura-chan _isn't_ Itachi. Itachi was born wrong and she wasn't. She was given a power she had no idea she had, and she was scared. And I'm betting she's _still_ scared. She's been stitched up, so she left the village to go to her brother, who I'm also betting she believes is all she has left."

Both Tsunade and Kakashi looked at each other. Since when was Naruto _this_ perceptive?

Naruto noticed their looks. "Sakura-chan's like a sister to me. Sure, I have a joke with her, but only because I know for a fact that anything I try won't lead anywhere. There's only one person she's ever been interested in, and that's Sasuke."

"Which brings us to another point…" Kakashi said, scratching the back of his head. "What happens if she meets Sasuke before she gets to Pein? Will she go with him instead?" No matter how odd he found it, he was now watching Naruto for the answer, which, was a _very_ rare event indeed.

Naruto stared at him, he seemed as surprised as Kakashi was at being watched for the answer. He scratched the back of his head, "What are you looking at me for?"

Kakashi sweatdropped.

"It wouldn't surprise me if Pein knew about her already." Tsunade sighed, "If he does… he would have sent members of Akatsuki out to collect her."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Pein? Akatsuki?"

Kakashi didn't seem at all surprised.

Naruto looked from one to the other, "What aren't you telling me?"

Tsunade bowed her head, "Sakura's brother is the leader of the Akatsuki. His name is Pein. According to Jiraiya he was originally called Nagato, but somewhere along the line, that changed."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "No – no _way_-!"

"Naruto."

_Bang._

His forehead hit the door.

Akatsuki. Pein. Sakura. Nagato.

_Sakura-chan… _

_Oh, HELL no! Sakura-chan is NO WAY joining the Akatsuki. That's wrong! Even thinking it is wrong!_

_Man… Sakura-chan's BROTHER is the one after me? Wow. That's… pretty ironic. Disturbingly ironic. Screw it! I'm outta here!_

"That settles it. I'm leaving. We're bringing her back, don't even _try _to get me to stay. Kakai-sensei, you're coming with me. Sai…" Sai smiled at him, causing Naruto to pause, _MAN, why did he have to be here?_ "If you must. And we'll probably need someone like Kiba or Neji-!"

"Hinata." Tsunade said, "Hinata will go with you."

Startled by her agreement, Naruto needed a few moments to remember how to speak.

"She's my student. I care about her too, remember?" Tsunade said quietly, looking longingly at the place where her stash of Sake bottles was hidden.

Naruto nodded.

"Ok. That's settled then. We're bringing Sakura-chan back!"

Knowing it was hopeless trying to reason with _both of them_, Kakashi also agreed. Though he had a bad feeling about this.

A _really_ bad feeling.

--

Itachi and Kisame had reached the outskirts of the Fire Country, and were heading inwards to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"Leader-sama's insane sending us." Kisame commented, "Especially since they know about us already, and considering _your _history with Konoha…"

Itachi looked sideways at Kisame, but said nothing. What would be the point? He'd just be forced to go into a long winded explanation about how Pein actually wasn't thinking straight when he sent them. He was about to see his little sister for the first time since she was a baby. Who would be thinking straight at this point?

He sighed inwardly at the irony of that question. Itachi knew _exactly_ who would be thinking straight.

"So… what do you think she'll be like?" Kisame asked, trying once again to start a conversation with the stoic Uchiha.

Knowing that Kisame wouldn't shut up until he got a response, Itachi humoured him. "I've met her before. A year ago. The only thing interesting about her was her hair colour."

"Powerful?"

Itachi suppressed the sudden urge to roll his eyes at Kisame's obvious discomfort about there being another Rin'negan user. "Nothing special."

"Good." Kisame smirked, "Guess I'll be able to teach the brat a few lessons."

Itachi decided not to inform him that he met her _before _she had gained her Rin'negan, and she and her teammates had in fact, managed to beat him, so he remained silent. There was simply no point in wasting energy in talking to Kisame. It was well known that Itachi was the brains in the operation. Kisame more than qualified for the brawn.

Suddenly, his Sharingan picked up a fast-moving, powerful Chakra grouping to his left, so he turned, quickly, causing Kisame to do a sudden, alarmingly graceful, pirouette in mid-air.

"You could tell me, you know!"

"Hn." Itachi couldn't help but feel amused at what he'd just witnessed. Kisame, shark, bearer of Samehada, Scourge of the Mist… _ballet dancer_. He looked sideways at Kisame, and decided he couldn't pass the chance to ask: "Did you get lessons for that?"

Kisame stared back at him, then a dull flush came onto his blue cheeks. "Don't tell a soul."

-

Not far from them, a pink-haired kunoichi dropped out of the trees and landed on the forest floor. A waterfall was visible ahead of her, and it was definitely the nicest thing she'd seen all day.

She was regretting not having something to pull her bangs back. They were growing steadily more and more clogged with sweat. She had to keep pushing herself to move faster than she normally would, for she knew she'd have to keep the pace if she didn't want Naruto to catch up with her any time soon. He _was_ unnaturally fast. He was growing faster as the years went by, it wouldn't surprise her if it was actually some unknown kekkai-gengkai of his.

It was with this in mind that she rushed to the waterfall without bothering to remove her clothes. Plus the idea of stripping in daylight and while on the run was laughable.

She stuck her head into it, then accepting this as enough, made to leave once more.

"If you're on the run, it's a bad idea to stop."

Startled, she looked around, and her expression immediately darkened.

"Itachi. Kisame." She acknowledged.

"You were right about her hair colour." Kisame said lightly, smirking.

What? They were discussing her hair colour? What _about_ her hair colour? And… was it just her, or did Kisame look a little blue-er than usual? Even stranger than that, she was almost certain that Itachi was smirking. She had learnt to pick up the invisible expressions off Sasuke, and Itachi was certainly displaying one of them.

But Itachi was more emotionless than his younger counterpart. In fact, he was reknowned for being so. Even whilst he lived in Konoha, he put the 'st' in stoic. All the other Uchiha's were just 'oic'. Snapping out of her absurd thought path, Sakura stared at them both, dismissing Itachi's barely visible smirk as something she'd imagined.

"What do you _want_?" She asked exasperatedly. She'd had just about enough of _people_ for one day.

"We haven't come to fight." Itachi said, cutting off Kisame. The smirk that Sakura had thought she'd seen was gone. Yep, she must have just imagined it. And finally, she remembered who her brother was, and who the people in front of here were.

"So you're my escort." She said.

"Hn."

Sakura's eyes twitched at hearing this. It was a Sasuke intonation, now she supposed it was in fact an Uchiha trait to use a single syllable as an answer to everything.

She sighed, then nodded. "Ok. Let's go." With that, she turned and left.

Surprised by her agreement, neither Kisame nor Itachi moved.

"Well, that was unexpected," Kisame said quietly,

"Hn. She can't pirouette half as well as you can." Itachi said, and left. Kisame flushed into a deep, oceanic blue, and he followed.

Sakura couldn't help but feel odd at travelling alongside two people she would willingly fight and kill, and who would willingly fight and kill her, but found it strangely comforting to, for once, be alongside people whose emotions weren't complicated.

To kill, or not to kill. That, alone, was the question they asked. True, it was disturbing, but at least it was honest.

She looked from one to the other, now she was _positive_ she hadn't imagined it. Kisame was so blue if he got too close to the sky he'd just look like a cloak with legs, and Itachi's lips were definitely twitching, and much more obviously than before.

_What_ had she missed?

She bristled in discomfort at the fact that they may be laughing at _her_.

Slowly feeling more and more uncomfortable, she resisted the urge to punch them both. Simply for the fact she knew she'd get repercussions, and there was a remote possibility that they weren't laughing at her at all.

Suddenly, however, she sensed the presence of four others.

Naruto?

No, he was fast, but he wasn't _that_ fast.

It was with a gasp that she recognised the Chakra signature.

_Sasuke._

She stopped abruptly.

"Keep moving." Itachi said, the smirk and the lip-twitch once again invisible. "If we bump into him, he'll slow us down."

_So he knows, too._ Sakura thought, then cursed herself for being so stupid. _Idiot, Sakura, of course he knows. It's his BROTHER for christ's sake._

She nodded.

"What if he's after you?" She asked,

"All the more reason to keep moving." Kisame interrupted, and they started travelling once more.

Soon, however, Sasuke caught up.

What was it about Sakura's past teammates that made them so god damn _fast_?!

"The time has come, brother!" Sasuke shouted after him, "Going to run from me?"

_Shit. _Sakura thought, and watched as Itachi dropped to the ground.

Kisame made to keep going.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked,

"This is Itachi's battle. We have to keep moving."

Sakura glared at him, "It's one against _four_." She paused, realising who she was defending, but she knew her real reason was because she wanted to see Sasuke. Even if it was for the last time. She cocked an eyebrow at Kisame, "Don't you want a fight?"

Kisame stared at her, torn between the two choices.

Sakura smirked, "Well I'm going."

She looked down at where Sasuke was about to use his katana against Itachi.

Sakura checked with her Rin'negan to see if it was in fact Sasuke, and not a Clone. She surveyed his companions, a redhaired kunoichi, who she knew must be Karin, one with fish-teeth, Suigetsu, and a tall bloke, Juugo.

"That one." Kisame said, pointing at Suigetsu,

"What? Distant relative?" Sakura asked, Kisame glared at her.

"No. That sword doesn't belong to him."

Sakura eyed he and his sword. Her eyes widened when she recognised it, and she felt a flare of irritation.

"That's Zabuza's sword."

"Correct."

"Fine. You take him. I'll have the rest." She looked down at Sasuke, cocking an eyebrow. "'Bout time for another Reunion."

Then, at the right time, she dropped through the trees to land in between them.

--

Itachi's eyes widened as he saw the pink-haired kunoichi appear in front of him, her fists clenched over Sasuke's wrists, pushing them outwards.

"Get out of the way." Sasuke said, his eyes not leaving Itachi. The obsessiveness in them seemed more blatant than ever.

"You are in no position to be making demands off _me_." With that, her foot flew upwards, and Sasuke was thrown from her, and he landed unceremoniousally ten metres away.

She tucked her leg back down, and turned to look back at Itachi, who seemed surprised at the abrupt end to the fight.

"Leave. Now." She said, "I'll finish this."

Itachi's expression darkened, "We're not taking orders from you."

Her own darkened too, "It's _advice_, don't want you getting hurt, do we?"

Itachi glared at her. "Fine. But hurry up." With that, he left. Sakura's eyes turned to Kisame, and she raised her eyebrows.

"What? I'm not letting you have all the fun."

"Sorry, personal vendetta." She said.

"Against _all _of them?" Kisame whined,

"Yup, all. Go." She said, and Kisame left.

Sasuke gave a shout of anger and made to run after them, but Sakura's foot stopped him once again. His hand caught her ankle this time.

"You're starting to annoy me." Sasuke said.

"Your point being?"

Sasuke's Sharingan eyes turned sideways to look at her. His eyes widened when he finally recognised her. Her eyes were hidden by her bangs. Something that he couldn't help but find irritating. Those eyes were always a myriad of emotion, now she had hidden them from view, he had no idea what was running through her mind.

"I don't have time to deal with you, Sakura. If you don't get out of my way, I will kill you."

The soft, nagging voice that had been at the back of Sakura's mind fell silent at this, and she smirked, causing Sasuke's eyes to widen slightly. The naïve mercy of her twelve-year-old self was gone, replaced by the sixteen-year-old Shinobi she had become.

"You honestly believe your capable of that? Especially when I just dismissed my allies." She asked. "Then again it always was your thing to take on opponents stronger than yourself, and ending up beaten to a bloody pulp. Remember?"

She felt his grip on her ankle grow uncomfortably strong, "You're an easy opponent. This won't last five minutes."

Sakura's ankle suddenly became alive with green Chakra, and Sasuke dropped it immediately, his eyes going to his hand, which was now alive with blisters.

He looked up, just in time to see the same foot coming towards him, while a cool voice pointed out, "Correct."

_WHACK._

Sakura had hit Sasuke before anyone of his allies had realised either he or she had moved. Sasuke was on the floor in seconds.

A stunned silence followed, both Sasuke and Sakura were staring at each other, each seeming as shocked as the other. Sasuke's jaw set.

"So you've gotten _quicker_, wasn't expecting that." He said, wiping the blood from his mouth, and he stood up. "If I'd treated you seriously you'd be dead by now."

Sakura glared at him, her teeth gritted. _Fine. I may as well enjoy taking him down a peg or fifty. _Her expression relaxed and she smirked at him,

"Your still arrogant even though I just decked you!" She said, then laughed, "_What _did I ever see in you?"

Knowing what he was going to do next, she backflipped to avoid his katana. She smirked at the surprise was evident in his features at being read so easily.

"Well that _wasn't_ predictable." She said sarcastically,

Sasuke's surprised expression twisted into a glare and he growled, "_Sakura_."

"_Sasuke_." Sakura growled back in her best imitation of Sasuke's voice and manner, she laughed as he once again made to attack. Instead of backflipping, she flipped towards him, knowing he was going to appear behind her. "And there was me thinking you'd improved. How _wrong _was I."

Sasuke flushed, then smirked. "I'm going to enjoy killing you."

"_What_, am I still _annoying_?"

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, then his near-invisble smirk appeared. "Hn."

"_Good._"

With that, the real battle started, the fury at saying those few words was evident in Sakura's expression. All mercy was gone. Sasuke was finding it incredibly unnerving to see Sakura fight with such speed and precision. It was usually him frightening her, but now the tables had definitely turned.

Every punch that struck was powerful. Even with his Sharingan, Sasuke was finding it unnaturally difficult to find where Sakura was striking next, even though every Chakra-infused punch barely touched him at all, it hit him with the strength of a real punch. It was with a tinge of worry that he realised he was actually fighting for his life.

Soon, his eyes rested on hers, and right when he was about to throw a Genjutsu, he saw that her eyes were remarkably different.

Concentric circles were widening out from the pupil, growing lighter as they did, making her appear hypnotic. He then noticed how her expression was pretty much lifeless, and realised with a jolt that she wasn't wearing a headband.

Was _Sakura _a _missing-nin_?

"Sasuke-sama!" Karin shouted suddenly, and Sasuke realised that all this had happened in the space of _seconds_, "What should we-?"

"Go after – Itachi – and – Kisame!" Sasuke shouted, between hits.

"Oh _no_ you don't!" Sakura snarled, and after one precise kick to Sasuke's crotch, causing him to grunt, knowing it would render him incapable of movement long enough to stop the others. Her hands sped through the handsigns. "Fuuton: Rappushou!"

The cyclone ripped through her, striking Team Hebi full force. When this seemed to have no effect on the three, she frowned and slapped her Chakra imbued hands together, causing a shockwave to blast towards them along with the cyclone-like winds.

Suigetsu fell into a great white puddle, Karin seemed to realise what was coming and had vanished into the trees, while Juugo's appearance had also changed to make him look startlingly demonic.

"Wow. What a bunch of weirdo's." She said, right as her clone started to take out her irritation on Sasuke, who had managed to stand once again. She smirked, "This should be _fun_."

She looked around, "Hmm. Where's the redhead?"

A scream sounded nearby and Sakura knew her clone had hit its mark. Karin dropped through the trees, landing beside Suigetsu and Juugo.

Sakura's clone dropped down beside her, and used an Earth jutsu to absorb Suigetsu's form. Then moved over to Juugo, and after a brief scuffle, where the real Sakura found the urge to eat popcorn, Juugo was knocked to the floor. The clone Sakura looked back at the real one, nodded, then burst into Sakura petals.

"Let's try that again." Sakura said, and once again used her Wind jutsu.

"Oh shi-!"

"SASUKE-SAMA--!"

"You've gotta be-!"

_Slam. Whack. Thump._ Three supposedly powerful ninja were slammed against trees, and knocked out.

Sasuke stared at them, then his eyes widened as Sakura came up in place of the Clone. He dodged her punch, and sweatdropped as the tree snapped behind him.

"What's wrong, Sasuke? Thought you said it'd be over in five minutes?" She asked. She wasn't even out of breath.

He stared at her. "You want to play hard? _Fine_."

Sakura smirked and flipped up into the trees as he used the Uchiha trademark: "_Katon: Goukakyou no Jutsu!_"

She jumped out of the way of the flames, and landed behind Sasuke, who whipped around and finally managed to land a punch on her. She spat the blood out of her mouth, and the fight continued.

"That the best you can do, Sakura?" He asked, now managing to avoid every punch she threw.

Until finally, her hands glowed green, and she grabbed him by the neck and held him against the tree.

There they both stared at each other, panting. Then, and only then, did Sakura's eyes show any kind of humanity. She was staring at him with both fear, determination and… was that _grief? _He would have pulled himself out of it, if that had been possible, she'd shoved him against the tree with such force he was indented into it, and therefore, unable to move. Plus… something about her hands… something was stopping him. Holding him in place.

He watched her wrestle with herself for a few moments. To kill or not to kill. With that, he was forcefully reminded of the girl he had always protected as part of Team Seven, the one who had pleaded with him to stay. He couldn't believe it was the same one that was now deciding whether or not to kill him.

"Sakura?" He asked quietly.

Startled, she looked at him.

"You don't have it in you to kill." He said,

"Shut up." She snapped.

"You don't have the urge for revenge… why are you stopping me going after my brother? Because you don't understand. You or Naruto." He said, his eyes slowly turning back to the onyx.

Sakura's eyes closed, remembering her mother spitting blood.

_Why… did they… do this…?_

She started to shake, her fist clenching on Sasuke's neck.

Her eyes opened, and she took a deep breath, somehow finding clarity once again.

"You don't know me. Or Naruto for that matter. So how could you possibly say we don't understand, when you never even tried to understand us?" She asked, then released him, causing him to grasp hold of his throat. "Oh, and don't be fooled. I'm only not killing you because your not _worth_ killing."

She walked away, then stopped, her eyes darkened, watching him over her shoulder. "Even my parents murderer wasn't worth killing."

She lingered watching him just long enough to see his eyes widen in shock, then stalked away, picking up his katana as she did.

"Sakura." He said, she didn't turn back. "Sakura!"

Irritated, she stopped and looked back at him.

"What?"

"You… you _understand _me?" He asked, his voice oddly strangled. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw something in his eyes she'd never seen before.

_Hope_.

She blinked at him, then her eyes darkened once again. "I understand why you left. I understand the hate. I understand the pain." She paused, "But I don't understand you."

She tried to walk away once again, when she suddenly felt his warm hand on her wrist.

"Those emotions define me, just as they are starting to define you. When the loneliness hits, Sakura. That's when you'll realise. That's when you'll understand." He paused, "Come with me… don't go with my brother."

He twisted her around and pushed her against the tree, leaving her to stare into his deep onyx eyes.

"Just like you asked, four years ago." He said.

She stared at him, the proximity annoying her due to how tense she was becoming. It was far, _far _too reminiscent of how she used to feel.

_Why… did they… do this…?_

She frowned as the words came back to her once again, along with the image.

_Find your brother._

With that, she looked up at Sasuke through her bangs, a slight smile on her face. Sasuke smirked, then leaned in…

"_Bored_ now." Sasuke's eyes widened as whatever she had done hit him full force.

He gasped and slid to the floor, unable to move.

Sakura looked down at him.

"What have – what have you done?!" He asked, as his jaw started to set, making it harder for him to speak.

"Paralysis. Medical Ninjutsu. Courtesy of Tsunade." She knelt down beside him, "Don't think I've forgotten what your second 'ambition' in life is, _restore_ your clan? Sorry, but the Sakura who would have willingly agreed to _that_ is long gone. Nice try though. Almost had me convinced."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed into a glare, and he tried once again to speak, all that came out was a moan.

"Nuh-uh. No profanities. Just like Kakai-sensei would want, right?" And she stood up, leaving him paralysed, and she guessed, in a perfect position for the Konoha Ninja to find him.

She started to walk away from him.

"What – have – you – done – to – Sasuke-sama!?" A screech sounded.

Sakura groaned. Great. Karin was awake. Though, she had to admire the girl for Chakra control. Both the rocked-up Suigetsu and the demonic Juugo were still out for the count.

"He'll be unable to move for a few hours." Sakura said coolly. "If you don't get him to a hospital within that time, his organs will also seize up."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Who the hell _are _you, Pinky?" Karin asked, fury lacing her expression.

Sakura rolled her eyes, of course when people made nicknames for her, it always came down to the colour of her _hair_.

How pathetic. At least Sai's nickname for her was original.

She turned back and looked at Karin, then smirked when she saw how Karin was leaned over Sasuke, a dreamy crossed with worried look in her eyes.

Sakura suddenly realised where she could hit her worst.

"_I'm _Sasuke's _first_."

Karin's jaw dropped comically, and she saw Sasuke's eyes widen.

_CHA! MAN, that was SO worth it! _Inner Sakura cheered.

Sakura bit back a grin, then made to walk away, but Karin was there before her.

"What… did you _say_?"

"I think you heard me right. What? _Jealous_?"

She could have sworn she saw steam coming out of Karin's ears, causing Sakura to groan inwardly.

_She's actually buying this? Wow, she's stupid. _

"Why the hell should I believe you?"

"Why shouldn't you? Didn't think _Sasuke-sama_ would stoop to my level, huh?" Sakura asked, "I think you should check out my eye-jutsu."

"Eye-jutsu?"

"The Rin'negan." She said, "The rarest of them all. Now don't you think Sasuke would like his own little Uchiha Clan to be that strong, _huh_?"

Karin went white.

_Ooh-hoo – BULLSEYE!_

"You little-!"

_SLAP._

"Arrrgh!"

_THUMP._

"Ok, now that's just IMMATURE!"

_Whack._

"UGH! You'll pay for that!"

_SMACK._

"…"

Sakura stared down at the now unconscious Karin, and almost had to stop herself laughing. Almost.

"_Sakura-chaaaan!_"

_Oh well, too late now._

She could see Naruto's orange jumpsuit in the trees now, and surely enough, he burst through, causing a ripple of shock to course through Sakura, and the situation she'd been in had been hilarious, but suddenly it became all too real as her eyes rested on her blonde comrade.

_Do I have to… fight _Naruto_…?_

She blinked at him, as he stared back at her, his expression broken.

Moments later, Kakashi, Hinata and Sai burst into the clearing, joining Naruto.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi gasped, noticing the paralysed Uchiha.

Sasuke groaned, trying once again, in vain to break free of the paralysis. He managed to somehow, speak. "Ungh. Hakura – if doo do't det me go-!"

"You'll do what?" Sakura asked mockingly, "_Breathe _on me?"

"Doo dow what I haff to do! If doo u'stand de 'ain den _why_ are doo stoppeh 'ee?"

She paused, "You'll thank me some day."

He stared at her, "_Hakura_!"

She looked at Naruto through her bangs, who was staring at her, his eyes wide.

"Following _me_ now, Naruto?" She asked, "You'll only get yourself killed."

"You have to come back to Konoha." Kakashi said, taking over from Naruto, who appeared to be incapable of speech.

"This is a suicide mission…" Sakura said, "If I'm involved so is my brother. You're no match for him."

"You haven't reached him yet!" Kakashi said quietly,

"If you follow me into Amegakure you will die." She said, "I won't be able to protect you. Take Sasuke back to Konoha. Don't follow me."

"Sakura…" Naruto said, the blonde finally managing to form words, "What's _happened _to you?"

Sakura bowed her head, "Something I hope you will never understand."

With that, her body started to change. From her feet upwards, she started to change into Sakura petals.

She closed her eyes and looked up at the sky once it reached her neck. Then she vanished completely, leaving Naruto, Kakashi, Sai and Sasuke alone.

Naruto walked forwards and picked up one of the petals.

Sasuke let out a strangled cry. The paralysis now causing him physical pain.

Kakashi went forwards to Sasuke, and all Sasuke could do was furiously blink at him. Even in this situation, the fact that Sasuke had ended up like this was hysterical. Kakashi was embarrassed for him.

"You should be happy that she left you alive." Kakashi said, "And stop trying to glare at me, you know it's impossible."

Sasuke continued to blink furiously at him, and let out a loud sigh.

Naruto then walked forwards to them both.

"We'll take you back to Konoha, on _one_ condition."

Sasuke looked sideways at him, evidently surprised that Naruto was willing to leave him to die. Even Kakashi seemed surprised by this.

"You help us bring Sakura back."

Sasuke groaned.

**(A/N) Wow. Long chapter. That was nowhere NEAR as Angsty as it could have been, but I was determined for it to be a bit of a relief compared to the last chapter. I hope the Sasuke-Sakura interaction wasn't too OOC, but hey, Sakura's out of character anyway after what's happened to her! As ever, review if you wish me to continue, it aids the Muse massively :D**

**I just realised I left Shizune out of the beginning bit. But, BOY, there's a million and one characters in Naruto! Plus, if this chapter gets any longer, my Muse will get pissy.**

**I hope you enjoyed the Kisame and Itachi interactions XD. I had fun writing that!!**

**After this chapter all the characters will revert back to their angsty selves, I think. So be warned.**

**Next Chapter: Homecoming**


	7. Homecoming

**(A/N) This chapter's filler-central. Much shorter than the last cos my Muse got REAL pissy. Much thanks to the reviewers:** Mirai no Dinurs**,** The Silver Haired Demon**,** crystal teardrops**,** Daughter of Unending Darkness**,** blossomheartxoxo**,** EverMindTheRuleOfThree**,** Ice Cream Skittles Addict**,** UndeadKitty**,** BlackButterfly-RedRose**,** Passionate Crow Rat**,** CrazyChancyDreams457 **and** Maximum**. Ooh, look at this, two chapters in the same week! Count yourselves lucky, people.**

"That wasn't fair." Kisame whined.

Both Kisame and Itachi were left reeling from Sakura's determination to stop Sasuke and his allies herself. Neither of them were happy about it, and Kisame was all-too-keen to voice his opinions on the affair. Itachi, as ever, remained resolutely silent.

"I mean, seriously, did she HAVE to take all of them?"

"…"

"I swear, I could have chopped that kid with Momoichi's sword into little pieces."

"…"

"I've been waiting for a battle for ages. Why did she have to steal all the fun?"

"…"

"She could've-!"

"Kisame." Itachi finally said, and Kisame looked at him. "… shut up."

Kisame stared at him, bristling slightly, then obeyed, grumbling to himself. It had been established a very long time ago that there was no way that Kisame could beat Itachi. He had tried, several times, and had ended up with a phenomenally bruised ego. Since then, Kisame knew it was best not to get into a fight with this comrade. He'd try with all the other Akatsuki, certainly, but Itachi was definitely a bad idea.

They continued in silence for another few minutes when Itachi stopped abruptly. Kisame was about to ask him why when he felt the wind get suddenly strong.

Chakra was forming directly in front of them, and in a rush of Sakura petals, the kunoichi appeared. There was no sign of injuries, and no signs of Chakra depletion. In fact, it was almost as if she hadn't fought at all.

Kisame stared at her, straightening up a little. "So, finally caught up, did you. Took you long enough."

"Five minutes." Sakura said coolly, "I'd say that's a record."

"Please, I could have finished them in two." Kisame said, after a few seconds of silence, he snapped, "You could have at least let me have-!"

"He took me two seconds." Sakura said, "What would you have done against someone who is primarily liquid form? Having a swordfight with him would have been disastrous."

Kisame glared at her. "What about the Uchiha kid?"

Sakura paused. Even though her Rin'negan eyes made her look emotionless, it was obvious to Itachi that she had been affected by her brief encounter with his younger brother. He couldn't help but feel suspicious about that.

"Taken care of." She said, then turned away from them both, which compounded the suspicion Itachi had. "Time to go."

--

_Why did he have to say that?_

Sakura threw herself into the running once more.

_Why did he have to ask me to go with him?_

She focused her Chakra into her legs, allowing her to move quicker than she had before.

_And… did he really…?_

She bowed her head against the wind, allowing her to become more streamlined, remembering how Sasuke's face had come uncomfortably close to hers…

"Sakura."

Startled, she looked to the side, where Itachi was running alongside her. _He knows._ She thought. _He knows Sasuke's my weakness._

"Head North."

Surprised, she turned her path slightly, as did he. He was graceful to the point it was irritating. It was like he was born for running. He seemed to have no trouble keeping up with her, even though her own legs were starting to ache at the speed she was going.

Kisame however…

"What's the rush?!" He called out behind them.

Kisame was definitely _not_ born for running.

"The quicker we get to Amegakure the better." Itachi said.

"Funny, I thought it was because we were running away from something." Kisame shouted.

_So they DO know._ Sakura twisted around, "What's wrong? Can't keep the pace?"

With that, Kisame shot ahead of them.

Itachi stared after him. "It's a bad idea to challenge Kisame."

Sakura smirked, "Got him moving, didn't it?"

Itachi looked sideways at her. "Hn."

--

Meanwhile, Sasuke was resolutely keeping his eyes closed. Simply for the fact, that every time he opened them, he found himself staring at Kakashi's butt at an angle that was entirely too close for comfort.

Added to the fact he could see Kakashi's butt, it didn't help that when Kakashi was running, like now, for instance, his face would bump repeatedly into it, and due to Sakura's unfortunately strong Paralysis jutsu, he didn't have a choice in the matter.

He wondered if she'd planned this from the start. He was sure if she knew what was happening at this exact moment she would find it hilarious.

He found himself thanking whoever was out there for a small mercy that it wasn't Naruto's butt he was staring at. Naruto's farts were legendary in the sense that many people had come to believe that if anyone stood too close to him when he let one go, it could knock them out. He didn't want to think of how strong the smell would be at _this _angle…

"Naruto – can we stop for a moment?" Kakashi called out from somewhere above him.

Sasuke's eyes snapped open, a sense of foreboding rising within him.

"No can do, Kakai-sensei. Teme'll die if we don't get him to Tsunade soon."

Sasuke felt Kakashi shift, and the sense of foreboding became even greater.

"Well, can we at least _swap_? You know I don't have your stamina."

_Oh God. Please, no. _Sasuke thought, his eyes now wide open.

"Tch. Fine. You take the redhead."

Next thing Sasuke knew, he was slumped over Naruto's shoulder in another fireman's lift, and this time he was staring at a flourescent orange butt.

He looked sideways and saw that Karin was still knocked out from her brief spat with Sakura earlier. Hinata was carrying Suigetsu inside her backpack, he appeared to be stuck in his liquid form. And Sai was somehow carrying Juugo. He looked to his right, and was horrorstruck when he saw two sketches of muscly, matchstick men carrying Juugo between them.

He was about to think about the mechanics of Sai's jutsu when an odd smell crept up his nostrils.

Naruto had farted. Silent, but deadly.

And God, it _stank. _Sasuke was practically certain his nose would fall off.

Sasuke immediately revoked his thanks from whoever was out there and groaned loudly, due to how constricted his throat was, he ended up sounding like a strangled cat.

"Shut up, Teme. I'm stressed, all right?" Naruto snapped from somewhere above him.

"_Garoogoh_!"

Sasuke glared at Naruto's ass, hoping that somehow, _somehow_ his Chakra would obey him and his Sharingan would activate.

He sighed through his teeth.

_I hate you, Sakura._

--

"We're here."

Sakura paused, her stomach flipping in anticipation. Now they had arrived at the pond they had to swim through to enter Amegakure, she felt the first twinges of doubt creep in.

Did she really want to meet her brother?

Why should she, when she hadn't known of his existence until a few days before?

Sakura started with the realisation of how much had happened in the space of a week. At the beginning, she was a normal medic-nin with a bright future, with only headaches to worry her, and now she was a bearer of the Rin'negan, she wasn't a Haruno, her friends were her enemies…

She shook herself out of it.

_I have to meet him… he's all I have._

"Ready?" Kisame asked her, she looked at him, then gave a swift nod, and dove into the pond. She was at first startled by how warm it was, then realised with a jolt that it had been created by Chakra in an effort to hide the Village.

She saw Itachi swimming ahead of her, again, gracefully… _bloody Uchiha…_ and was taken by surprise that Kisame too looked graceful. She felt like a goldfish next to salmon. After a few more minutes of Sakura doubting herself, they broke the surface.

Using her Chakra to pull herself up onto the surface of the lake, she stood up and looked around at the tall village of Amegakure. It was raining, as she'd expected from its name.

_So this is home, huh?_

The rain slid down her face, and as her Rin'negan activated, she could see that the Rain too was also infused with Chakra, though it was different to that of the lake. She closed her eyes and leant her head back.

Then, and only then, did she understand whose Chakra it was.

_Niisan?_

"Sakura." She didn't open her eyes, but she could sense those of a Sharingan watching her. It was alarming, to say the least, that she realised the stare wasn't unfriendly.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Time to go."

She allowed her head to drop forwards into its usual position, then looked at Itachi, who was already heading away. _Heh. Just like Sasuke. Always walking ahead of me._

Sighing, she followed him, and Kisame came up beside her.

"Did your fight really only take five minutes?"

Unable to stop herself, Sakura smirked. "Yes." She looked at Kisame, and was surprised to see that he didn't look irritated. It was almost like she had confirmed something. Curious, she continued. "Why?"

"Sasuke's been causing the Akatsuki, specifically, Itachi, trouble for quite a while now. It's only thanks to Deidara's Masterpiece that Itachi and Sasuke haven't fought yet."

Sakura remembered it well. The giant image that Deidara had left in the sky was burnt into her memory due to her immediate reaction of it being to do with Sasuke. Her immediate thought that Sasuke had been killed in the explosion.

She cocked an eyebrow at the image of her frightened old self. _How things change._

"He still hasn't stopped bragging about it."

"So Deidara survived?" She asked, alarmed that someone could have survived blowing themselves up.

"It wasn't actually Deidara himself who Sasuke fought. It was a clone, and a damn good one too."

"A clone." Sakura repeated, and she remembered the time, she, Naruto, Chiyo and Kakashi had fought 'Itachi'. Her eyes darkened.

"By your expression, you know what kind of clone I speak of."

"Someone else with Deidara's appearance, personality, jutsu's and fighting skills printed on top of them. A sacrifice." She said, unable to hide the bitterness in her voice.

"Yeah. Sasuke was gravely injured by the Deidara clone. Took him months to recover. It's only now, a year later, that Sasuke is once again tracking Itachi." Kisame said.

"That explains it then." Sakura said, "Even though I have the Rin'negan I was under no illusion that Sasuke would be easy. When I finished him in five minutes, I can't deny that I was a little surprised."

_So, even now he's still injured?_

Her eyes widened as she remembered what he'd said to her.

"_Come with me… don't go with my brother."_

_He twisted her around and pushed her against the tree, leaving her to stare into his deep onyx eyes._

"_Just like you asked, four years ago." He said._

She stopped following Itachi, her eyes wide as everything Sasuke had done started clicking horrifically into place.

He'd taken her for a ride, right from the second she'd hit him with the Medical ninjutsu.

"_Sakura." He said, she didn't turn back. "Sakura!"_

_Irritated, she stopped and looked back at him._

"_What?"_

"_You… you understand me?" He asked, his voice oddly strangled. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw something in his eyes she'd never seen before._

_Hope._

_She blinked at him, then her eyes darkened once again. "I understand why you left. I understand the hate. I understand the pain." She paused, "But I don't understand you."_

_She tried to walk away once again, when she suddenly felt his warm hand on her wrist._

"_Those emotions define me, just as they are starting to define you. When the loneliness hits, Sakura. That's when you'll realise. That's when you'll understand."_

All of that… that slither of emotion he'd shown her… all of it…

Was an _act_?

"Sakura?" Kisame asked quietly. The kunoichi's expression had darkened to a point where she looked dangerous.

_Even then, he wasn't taking me seriously._

_And I fell for it. Hook. Line. _

_And sinker._

Her fists clenched. _I fell for it. _

_I fell for _him_._

_Again._

"Sakura?" Kisame repeated,

"Let's go." She said, her voice dark, and she followed Itachi.

_That's what you get, Sakura, that's what you get for trusting what you see. Trusting what you hear._

_Trusting that there is good in people._

She stalked straight past Itachi, who stared after her, his eyes narrowing as he took in the abrupt change in her Chakra.

She walked into the nearest hallway and slammed her fists into the wall.

_Damn it._

_Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!_

"Sakura?"

Her eyes widened, and she looked to the side.

Her hands unclenched, and they immediately fell to her sides. All anger forgotten.

Itachi and Kisame soon caught up with her, and they both started when they saw the other person in the hallway.

"Leader-sama." They both acknowledged, inclining their heads to him.

Sakura was still frozen, staring at him, just as he was also frozen, staring at her.

Her eyes took in the piercings, the bright orange hair colour, and the cool confidence that emitted from him.

Finally… her eyes rested on his.

"N… Nii-san?"

**(A/N) Ooh heck. Look at that. WHOPPING GREAT CLIFFIE! Well, whatever, I felt like it seeing as I didn't leave one last chapter. You know what I'm going to say now don't ya? Review, if you wish me to continue and reveal the meeting of Pein and Sakura. And numerous other things… :D**

**By the way... ItaSakuSasu or just ItaSaku? I know already how this fic is gonna finish, I even have an idea for a sequel depending on how popular the fic is... but that's the question. Will Sakura fall for Sasuke again?**

**Next Chapter: Transition**


	8. Transition

**(A/N) Dun… dun… DUUUUUN! The moment and the chapter you have all been waiting for has finally arrived! The siblings meet. Will there be fireworks? Soon find out.**

**And can I just say… about the last manga chapter… SASUKE'S GONE PSYCHO!! Well, we all knew it would happen. Kinda. And does anyone else seriously want to hit him with a baseball bat? How stupid can he get?! Unless of course he's doing an Itachi… which I hope he is, otherwise he is just being an idiot, plain and simple.**

**From the top, much, MUCH thanks to:** Mirai No Dinurs**,** TeenageCrisis**,** Starlight – Wild Koneko**, **1AngelsReqiuem1**,** BlackButterfly-RedRose**,** Icecream Skittles Addict**,** EverMindTheRuleOfThree**,** randigirl**,** crystal teardrops**,** jahannah12**,** xxx1xxx**,** h3rshy675**,** saiyukifan526**, **xxpatixx**,** Daughter of Unending Darkness**,** Passionate Crow Rat **and** Black fire Blossom **:D. Try saying all that in one breath :P**

**Sorry for taking so long – it's been one of them weeks and writing this chapter took a backseat.**

**Enjoy :D**

"N…Nii-san?"

She eyed the bright orange hair, making herself thank whoever it was that was out there that she had gained pink hair. She could just imagine the insults she would have received at the Academy.

Next her eyes rested on the many piercings that he had, making him appear to live up to the name he'd given himself.

His Rin'negan eyes were as clear as day, almost completely identical to her own, and that alone was a sure enough indication of the fact they were relatives.

_So Danzou wasn't lying, huh?_

She would have looked away, but found herself unable to take her eyes off her brother, a slight morbid fascination keeping him (and his piercings) in her vision.

Pein's eyes flicked to the side, eyeing the areas where Sakura's fists had left sizeable cracks in the wall.

Moments later that section of the wall tumbled to the floor, leaving a cloud of debris in its wake.

Sakura started out of surprise, then looked back at Pein, her eyes wide.

"Uhh… whoops?" She said shakily.

Pein's expression didn't change.

"Itachi, Kisame. Leave us."

She heard the telltale whooshing of the two Akatsuki beside her leaving them to it.

Suddenly feeling like she'd been thrown in the deep end, she swallowed, and kept her eyes on her brother.

"There's no need to fear me." Pein said quietly, as he placed a hand on the wall, his Chakra immediately pulling the pieces back together, like a jigsaw puzzle. "It's irrational. Why would I wish to hurt my little sister?"

Sakura blinked at him. "It's not… _fear_, exactly. It's…" She stared at him, her head cocking to the side. "Is your hair naturally that colour?"

Pein stared at her. She couldn't decipher whether he was angry or merely taken aback. It took her a few moments to realise what she had just said.

_Oh. Dear. God. Did I just say that out loud?! That's it, it's over. I'm done for._

Inner Sakura however was eyeing him with one eyebrow raised. _Well what does he expect with hair that's bright orange?_

She blushed. "Sorry."

He, however, smirked. "No, it's not. A certain jutsu that I use triggers my change in appearance."

"Oh."

_Does that include the piercings? _

_I am NOT asking that._

_Wonder what his reaction would be if I did? Priceless I bet._

_Yeah, before he chops my head off._

Silence fell between them.

"You seemed pretty upset about something before I arrived. Is something wrong?" He asked. His expression, once again, didn't change. It reminded her shockingly of Sai, almost as if Pein too had gained his social skills from a book.

Noting the monotone enquiry after her wellbeing, it was a few moments before she realised he expected an answer.

"No. It's nothing to worry about, really." She said, though as she spoke Inner Sakura raged at the thought of being tricked by Sasuke.

He stared at her thoughtfully for a few moments, then said calmly, "Step into the light."

Deciding not to question his request, or order, or whatever it was, she stepped into it.

Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, his utterly emotionless eyes gained humanity as they widened, causing Sakura's to widen too.

_Have I done something wrong?_

"Pein-san?" She asked uncertainly.

"Heh. You've still got pink hair." He replied, a sudden, sad smile on his face.

The air in her lungs vanished.

_He remembers me?_

"I still remember how pleased our mother was when she brought you home for the first time. She had been certain that her family's trademark pink hair wouldn't be passed on…"

Sakura stared at him, and her expression darkened as she remembered the only mother she would ever recognise.

"_Though I… never really supported you… becoming a ninja… though I never said it… I am… so proud of you…"_

Sakura looked at Pein once more, who was already walking away from her.

"Come with me. I'll show you around." Once again, his voice had flipped back to the emotionless monotone that it was before.

Sakura stared after him, then looked back at the expanse of the lake.

_No turning back now._

"Hai." She said, and followed him.

--

"So let me get this straight… instead of bringing back Sakura, you brought back someone who is bent on leaving as soon as he regains the use of his legs?" Tsunade asked, her voice forcibly calm.

The fact that Team Kakashi had once again failed a retrieval mission irritated Tsunade to no end, the fact that they then tried to save themselves by saying they brought back Sasuke instead was infuriating.

They would have had a chance in persuading Sakura to stay, but Sasuke was so bent on revenge now there was no saving him from it. Added to that…

"You do realise the situation we are in now that Sakura has reached Pein?" Tsunade asked.

Kakashi managed to keep passive, while Naruto fidgeted.

"We had no choice." Kakashi replied, "Sakura was intent on going to her brother. Now we have Sasuke back… that solves at least one problem."

Tsunade gave him an incredulous stare, "Are you _completely-?_" She paused, "Sasuke was focused on killing Itachi, who is one of the Akatsuki. Bringing him back may have caused yet more problems."

"If we didn't Sasuke would have died!" Naruto burst, "Now that Sasuke's back we can bring back-!"

"No we can't." Another voice said.

Both Kakashi and Naruto looked around, standing in the opposite corner, shrouded by shadows, was Jiraiya.

Naruto's eyes widened. "What?"

Jiraiya's eyes were focused on the opposite wall, as if he was seeing something that only he could see, there was an odd, haunted expression on his face, almost as if he was afraid of what he saw.

"Or should I say… _you_ can't, Naruto."

Naruto bristled instantly. "What – but Sakura-!"

"If you go after her, you will die." Jiraiya said, "You seem to be forgetting exactly who is after what's inside you."

Naruto stared at him, "But I-!"

"_No_." Jiraiya said, "This conversation is over."

Naruto glared at him, "She's my friend and-!"

"If you die, the fate of the world is at stake. Don't you understand that? We can't take that risk! You're the only Jinchuuriki who hasn't been put through the extraction process! The fact that you're still alive right now is a miracle in itself!" Jiraiya said severely, he then sighed, "I'm sorry… but you _can't_."

Naruto 'hmph'd a reply, and crossed his arms. "Then what do we do then? Sit around waiting?"

"Sakura… whatever she has become… is still a Leaf Ninja. The Akatsuki's ways may not sit right with her. We can only hope that Sakura will reason with Pein." Tsunade said, "She's the only one who will have an effect on him."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "But that's-!"

"Like Jiraiya said, this conversation is over, Naruto." She said,

"But-!"

"Out." Huffing angrily, Naruto left the Hokage's office, and Kakashi made to follow, but Jiraiya held a hand out to stop him, closing the door in Naruto's wake.

"I'm going to Amegakure. I need you to keep an eye on Naruto while I'm gone." Jiraiya said, his expression darkened, "And… make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, ok?"

Kakashi stared at him.

"Jiraiya-sama, with all due respect-!"

"Pein was my student. I helped train him and his friends so they could survive the war that was raging there. I'm not intending to fight him, merely gain information. But if it comes down to it, I will." Jiraiya said calmly.

Kakashi glanced past Jiraiya to look at Tsunade, whose haunted eyes were once again on her stash of Saké.

He sighed. "I guess there's no persuading you otherwise." With that, he left, his frown growing deeper as he did.

The Hokage sinking into depression…

One of the Sannin going on a suicide-mission…

Naruto unable to leave…

Sasuke unable to move…

_If you knew, Sakura… would you come back?_

**--**

Meanwhile, Pein was showing Sakura around the labyrinth of winding corridors that was the Akatsuki base. Fortunately, different Chakra signatures were implanted in each of the rooms, so if she needed to be somewhere, she could get there quickly. However, she also assumed that she could now teleport, so she always had that to rely on.

The Leaf Ninja in Sakura kept jumping up in her mind now and then, noting information that she perhaps could tell Tsunade when she returned to Konoha, and every time she did, she felt a stab of pain at the loss of her home and family. She knew there would be many reminders, she just had to learn to deal with them, for her own sake.

She watched as he mentioned various meeting rooms, the kitchen, the bathrooms, all of which were in the bedrooms, which he noted as he passed, mentioning names of several Akatsuki that Sakura hadn't heard of before. Until finally they stopped.

"This, is your room." He said.

She paused, then pushed the door open. It was pretty simple inside, a bed by a window, a bathroom to the right of her. Nothing too flashy. "Thank you."

He nodded, "You should head to Meeting Room One as soon as you're ready. I'll introduce you to the other Akatsuki members." With that, he left.

She stared after him, then walked into her room, a soft sigh escaping her. She walked over to the window and stared at out at the ever-raining village of Amegakure, and once again felt a pang at the loss of Konoha.

She looked to the side, and was surprised to see a chest of drawers there. Sitting on top, was an Akatsuki cloak, and a blue ring which bore the kanji for 'Sora'.

_So this is it? This is the big Akatsuki inauguration? A cloak, a ring and a room?_

She moved forwards cautiously. She didn't like the look of the cloak, it still drove a spark of equal fear and hate in her that wouldn't be gone any time soon. She moved forwards and picked it up, and the ring, which refused to slide onto any other finger than her left little.

She then shrugged on the Cloak, which was unnervingly a perfect fit, and went into the bathroom to look for a mirror, which, when she found she had to do a double take to make sure it was actually her, not another Akatsuki.

She stared at herself in the mirror.

_So this is me now, huh?_

She closed her eyes, finding herself forcing back tears.

_This is me._

_Get used to it, Sakura._

She opened her eyes once again, and sighed.

_No more tears._

--

"Sai… SAI!"

The raven-haired young man looked around and smiled at Ino, who appeared to be flustered. He had read in a book that he should try to calm someone down when they were angry about something, and he was about to attempt to when–

"Your house – it's been broken into!"

He stared at her. _Now how would one usually react in these situations? _"Oh, really?"

Ino sighed, staring at him incredulously. "That means someone may have stolen your possessions, aren't you bothered about that?" She paused, "Actually no, don't answer that. Your house is a mess, one of the windows was broken and your wardrobe looks like it exploded."

"My wardrobe?" He asked, surprised.

"Yeah."

"Why would my-?" He stopped mid-sentence, his expression unreadable.

"Uhh… Sai?" Ino asked, she waved a hand in front of his face, "Sai?"

"My mask." He replied, "My ANBU mask was in my wardrobe."

She stared at him, not comprehending what he was trying to tell her.

"My _Root _ANBU mask."

**(A/N) Tick – tick – BOOM. A lot of things are going to kick off next chapter. Yup, Jiraiya's leaving, but that's the question - will he die or will Sakura jump in and save him? I've got the Plot, but if there's anything you want me to slot in, any funny, angsty, whatever ideas, go for it, but to do that, you must review :D**

**Next Chapter: The Other **(Spoiler: Danzou's words haunt Sakura)


	9. The Other

**(A/N) Yup, quicker this time. Loved writing this chapter hehehe :D**

**Reviewers, I love you! Thank you so much! A huge part of this is for both **BlackButterfly-RedRose **(the ItaSaku section) and **Daughter of Unending Darkness **(PeinxSakura bonding). You can thank them both for the ideas and it being up so quickly :D**

**From the top, thanks to: **Mirai No Dinurs**,** saiyukifan526**, **The Silver Haired Demon**, **Matte Gloss**,** saya-plus**,** hvn on erth**,** Black Fire Blossom**, **boke-sama**,** xxpatixx**, **Lady Shinku-choi**, **jackie-chan1230**, **xXFallenSakuraXx** and **sTrawberrykIss09**.**

**Here goes :D :D**

"WHAT?_"_

Both Sai and Ino sweatdropped, and dived for the corner of the room as a desk came flying their way.

Shizune was trying her best to calm Tsunade down, though she felt a tinge of annoyance for both Sai and Ino at telling the Hokage about the exploding mask when she had clearly had a bit to drink.

Still… it was a bit of an over-reaction. Shouldn't Tsunade be happy about the fact that Sakura was innocent?

"That _bastard_!" Tsunade shouted, "What the hell was he _thinking _rigging ANBU root masks with explosives?!"

"Tsunade-sama… _please_ just _calm down_-!" Shizune tried, and squeaked as the chair followed the path of the desk.

"Calm down? _Calm down?! _If it wasn't for him we wouldn't be _having_ this trouble!" She shouted, "So _god damn_ bothered about risks and rules! Did he honestly think that by doing this it'd be for Konoha's greater good?! None of the other villages _know_ about Sakura having the Rin'negan but _noooo_, no he had to go and MAKE IT a BILLION TIMES WORSE!"

"Sai – Ino – it's probably best that you leave – quickly!" Shizune said quickly, "You can give a full report later when she's-!"

"RARRRRGH!"

"–sobered up." Shizune said, and after a few moments, ANBU entered the room with a sedative.

After a brief struggle, Tsunade grinned, "Ahhh… that's better." And started snoring.

Ino looked horrorstruck, while Sai had his head cocked to the side, not quite understanding what had caused her to flip. "Is that how people react with Saké?"

"Not all the time." Ino said, "We should go, Sai."

He nodded, and they both left, leaving Shizune with an unconscious Tsunade.

--

Sakura entered Meeting Room One in her full Akatsuki garb, and was unsurprised to see several Akatsuki members sitting about on several sofa's that were placed haphazardly around the room.

She looked around the room, and saw several Torches were lit in the dark room, making it appear to be somewhat medieval.

"So… it's true." A voice said.

She looked around, and her eyes widened as she recognised the two standing there. Hidan and Kakuzu. The ones who had killed Asuma a year ago.

Suddenly, the white-haired Hidan had her against the wall. Sakura's reaction was instantaneous, and Hidan's arm was broken in moments, causing him to gasp and back away.

Sakura showed no surprise, but her eyes were cold as they focused on the dark-eyed man.

"Sorry." She said coolly, an eyebrow cocked, "_Reflex_."

"What the _hell_." He snarled, "What's with this bitch?"

"This _bitch_, is my sister." A voice snapped, and Hidan went several shades of white, while Sakura looked around to see Pein standing in the doorway, glaring at Hidan with such intensity she was surprised Hidan didn't burn where he stood.

"Leader-sama…" He said,

"Touch her again and I'll kill you personally." Pein said, Sakura's eyes widened slightly.

"I don't need defending." Sakura interrupted, but it was half-hearted as she felt a sudden rush of warmth that he was defensive of her.

"I know." He said coolly, "I'm just commenting on the fact that Hidan here doesn't die easily."

"_I _know." Sakura snarled.

She couldn't help but feel angry at standing in the same room as Asuma's killer, especially when she had been at the birth of Kurenai and Asuma's baby. Kurenai had to give birth alone, had to raise her and Asuma's child without it's father, because of this religious psycho standing in front of her.

"However, the fact is, no matter what history you three have, you are now on the same side." Pein said, "I won't tolerate any friction within this group."

"How are you so sure she isn't a spy?" Kakuzu asked,

"That's true, yeah. She's a Konoha ninja. Last year she killed Sasori, yeah." Another voice said, and her eyes widened as she recognised the other person in the room.

Deidara.

So he really _was_ alive.

"That was last year. This is now." Pein said quietly, "I'm sure her appearance alone shows you she bears no allegiance to Konoha."

_My appearance? _Even the other Akatsuki seemed surprised by this.

"She doesn't have a headband." He said simply.

Sakura started in realisation, once again noting the fact her bangs were still in her face. _Of course. _This did little to reassure the flaring Akatsuki near her.

"That's not a good enough reason to believe her and you know it." Kakuzu said.

Sakura's heart lurched as she realised that she'd have to explain why she left Konoha. That was the only way to make them understand. Or at least get them to start trusting her and stop being willing to kill her whenever Pein's back was turned.

She could see how suspicious it was, how it seemed possible, almost obvious that she was a spy sent from Konoha to join them…

_If only._

"So I take it your not willing to believe that I abandoned Konoha simply to join my brother." She said calmly, "Well, you're right. I had other reasons too."

"Hah, _knew _it." Hidan said, "Can I kill her now-?"

Pein's glare silenced him. He too, however, was watching her with slight suspicion now.

"What other reasons?"

Sakura stared at him, and her eyes darkened, the coldness in them seemed enough to swallow her whole. Inside however, her rage had returned and was now burning at her chest and eyes. So much anger, hate and despair had happened merely days before. To talk about it so soon made breathing painful.

She swallowed.

"There was… a plot." She said, "I was arrested by the ANBU Root division, and taken to Danzou, where he explained the political trouble that Konoha was now in due to the fact there was a Rin'negan user there. In order to remove the threat, he sought to remove me… by any means necessary. If the assassination of me failed, which it did… he had a back up plan."

Sakura stopped, realising her voice had changed octaves. It was then that she felt the sudden breeze in the room.

_Shit. Not again._ She thought, and fought to dampen her emotions. After a few moments, the breeze left.

"Sakura… it's better to get it all out now, while its fresh, rather than refresh your memory of it later." The blue-haired kunoichi beside Pein said quietly.

She looked at her, and suddenly realised how weak she seemed for being emotional about her past. She looked at the other Akatsuki members, none of whom seemed at all affected by anything she had said.

That alone, gave her the strength enough to continue.

"He killed the people I had known as family, then killed both himself and the members of ANBU Root, leaving the Rin'negan bitch as the prime suspect." She said bitterly, "And himself as a martyr for his Village."

This caused several of the Akatsuki to fidget. One of whom, she was surprised to see, was Itachi. Knowing better than to mention it or lock eyes with him, her eyes rested on Pein, who nodded, now seeming somewhat reassured.

"Any questions?" He asked, a tinge of bitterness in his voice, almost as if he regretted the fact that Sakura had to go through that, "Good. Hidan, Kakuzu, you have been briefed on your mission."

"Well seeing that my arm is-!"

"Go, otherwise you're going to be late." Pein said coldly.

Sakura's eyes widened as they locked once again on her brother. His now cold gaze had gone back to Hidan.

"But Leader-sama-!"

"You brought your injury on yourself. Now you'll have to deal with the consequences." He cut off.

Although every instinct was saying he deserved it, the Medic in Sakura was putting up a good fight.

Right when Hidan and Kakuzu were about to leave, she spoke. "I can heal it."

Pein looked at her.

"It won't take a moment. It's only a phantom break." She said, "Besides, you didn't want any friction, right?"

Pein paused; he glanced at the blue-haired kunoichi, who nodded. Then he nodded too.

"Fine. Deidara… Tobi…"

With that, he left. After a few seconds of shock both Deidara and Tobi followed, while the blue-haired kunoichi stayed behind.

After a brief, inward smile, she went to Hidan, who was staring at her. Her hand glowed green, and after a few moments, his arm was back to normal.

"You may have convinced Leader-sama with your sob story, but it'll take a hell of a lot more than that to convince us." Kakuzu said quietly.

Sakura gave him a fake smile. "Lovely. Enjoy your mission."

Grumbling under his breath, both he and Hidan left.

Sighing, Sakura sat down, next the blue-haired kunoichi introduced herself.

"I'm Konan," She said quietly, "I remember you."

Sakura stared at her, wondering where she'd seen her before.

"I've known Pein since we were children." She explained.

Sakura paused, then nodded. "So you know him best?"

Konan's expression darkened slightly, "I know his reasons behind what he does… but I don't know him. Too much has happened for me to say that."

Sakura nodded, not pressing any further.

"Sakura."

She looked around and saw Itachi standing nearby. It was only then that she noted how tall he was, and just how similar he was to Sasuke.

"Pein has put you with me and Kisame for our next mission. He forgot to mention it."

"Ok." She nodded,

"It's also my job to test your abilities. Especially after how you fared with Sasuke. He wants to know how good your Rin'negan is against the Sharingan."

"He knows about that?" She asked,

"Zetsu recorded it." Konan said airily.

_Recorded_ it?

Her eyes widened, but then her eyes locked on Itachi, who appeared to be smirking, ready for the fight.

"Let's go."

--

Naruto was sitting alone, waiting for Kakashi. Every now and then someone would walk past, and for a brief second he believed it was Sakura, coming to wait as well.

_She's gone, Naruto._ He told himself. _Snap out of it._

"N-Naruto?"

Surprised, he looked around. Standing there was Hinata, poking her fingers together. He smiled at her,

"Hey Hinata. How are you?"

She blushed, and Naruto inwardly groaned. _What is WITH her?_

"I-I'm fine, thank you." She said, "I just… wanted to say…"

He waited.

"There's s-something I've been wanting to…"

He continued to wait, watching confusedly as she seemed to glow red.

"Naruto."

He looked up to see Kakashi with his book.

"Kakai-sensei." He said,

"Ready for training? Oh, hello Hinata. How are you?"

"I-I'm fine…"

"Good, time to go Naruto."

"Ossu! See you later Hinata!" With that they both left, leaving Hinata standing there. She bowed her head.

"I just wanted to tell you…" She said, her voice without the stutter now he wasn't there. She looked up at the sky, where a lone bird was flying across. "You're not alone." She finished softly, as a breeze ran through her. Saddened, she turned and walked away.

--

Sakura was in the training yard with Itachi as it continued to rain on them. Both he and she had ditched their Akatsuki cloaks, and were squaring off against each other.

Sitting nearby, keeping score, was Kisame.

"Sharingan versus Rin'negan round one." Kisame said, and then leered at Sakura, "By the way, you're fighting _me _next."

"The gods themselves do _tremble_." Sakura said with energy, her gaze never leaving Itachi.

Kisame bristled. "Underestimating me again?"

She smirked, and got into stance, "You make it _far _too easy."

"She has a point." Itachi agreed, and Kisame grumbled into silence. He then looked at Sakura. "Let's see how your Rin'negan fares against my Tsukuyomi."

_If you think I'm going to just stand here and let you use that torture-chamber on me your seriously mistaken._ She thought darkly, remembering what it had done to Kakashi.

Instead, placing both hands behind her back, she made a clone, which appeared behind Itachi and struck him hard, causing him to land on the floor.

Itachi rolled his eyes, and smirked at her, as he disappeared.

"Sakura."

Surprised, she looked around, and with that, the world went black.

_Oh… shit._ She thought, knowing what this must be.

Suddenly however, she instinctively knew what to do, and mimicked his eye movement.

With that, both she and Itachi were sent mentally spinning, until she landed somewhere she didn't recognise, minus Itachi.

Konoha, she realised. She was in Konoha.

In the Hokage's office, to be exact.

Standing there was a younger Itachi, and sitting opposite was the Third Hokage, who was looking distinctly uncomfortable. Her heart burned when she saw the man sitting on his right. On the other side, were the two Elders, Homura and Koharu.

Her eyes widened. _What the hell-?_

"You understand what you must do, I trust." Danzou said quietly,

"I…"

Her eyes focused on the younger Itachi, who appeared to be shocked. He was staring at the four like they had sprouted fifty heads between them.

"Your Clan is planning a coup d'etat. You know it will cause an all out civil war in the Fire Country if they go ahead with their plans." Danzou said.

_What?!_

"That's enough Danzou! Don't you realise what you're _asking _him?" Sarutobi asked, staring at Danzou with horror. "You can't expect him to kill his family! There has to be another way!"

_No… no way…_ Sakura thought, horrified, and with that she was reminded of what a very smug Danzou had told her.

"_Like I said before. To get you to leave, and not have any reason to come back, nor any back up from the villagers for that matter. It's worked before. Why not do it again?" He said softly._

_Her eyes widened._

"_You've… done this to someone else…?"_

"_Well, forced them to do it instead. Too much power is always a bad thing." He said._

Sakura stared at the younger Itachi, her eyes wide. _Itachi…_

"There is no other way. You know Fugaku. He's stubborn to the point its ridiculous, and now he has the backing of the entire Clan behind him… there's no telling what he'll do." Homura said, backing up Danzou.

"You too, Homura?" Sarutobi gasped, "But Itachi – he's just – he's just a-!"

"I'll do it."

All five of them (including Sakura) gasped. They all stared at the young Uchiha, who had closed his eyes.

"I won't allow War to break out." He said, his voice oddly calm for someone who had just been told to murder his own family.

Sarutobi stared at him, "Itachi, you can't be serious-!"

"There is no other way." He said.

"Itachi – I promise you, I will find one!" Sarutobi said, utterly griefstricken, "You won't have to kill your Clan. I'll find another way before it's too late."

Itachi turned away. "I will do what I must to protect this village."

Suddenly, the image died, pulling both Sakura and Itachi back to Earth. Sakura's eyes were wide, and she was watching Itachi with horror.

He was mouthing words, but no voice came from his mouth. Realising how bad this must look, Sakura turned to Kisame and threw a Genjutsu at him, seconds before Itachi fell to his knees.

Sakura paused for a few seconds, stunned by what had happened, then rushed forwards to Itachi, her hands on his shoulders.

His face hit her shoulder as he struggled to pull back into himself. Her grip tightened on his shoulders.

"Itachi… it…" She started, but realised there were no words of comfort for him. Upon hearing her voice, he pulled back, his onyx eyes wide.

He looked at her through his bangs, his expression lost, and it was because of that look, that Sakura knew she was seeing the real him. The amount of pain in his eyes caused by years of pretence was barely comprehensible. For a split second where she was frozen, she realised he was shaking.

Itachi was going into shock.

She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came. What could she say, after witnessing the few, horrific moments that was the reason behind the hell that was his past, present and future?

_How did it feel to receive an order like that?_

"How did you know?" He asked finally, his eyes dark, and voice dangerous. "When it backfired… how did you know where to look in my memories? What to look for?"

She shook her head. "Danzou said there was another." She replied, "He bragged that he'd done what he did to me to somebody else."

"He bragged…?" Itachi stared at her, then shook his head, "I still… everything I have done… it…"

"No one else knows." She whispered, "Only me."

"No one?" He asked,

"No one." She confirmed. "I cast a Genjutsu on Kisame as soon as you released the Tsukuyomi. He thinks we're still battling."

He stared at her, then looked at Kisame, who appeared to be watching an epic Taijutsu battle, as his mouth was agape.

Itachi looked back at her, and in that look some understanding passed between them.

She paused, then stood up, her jaw was set. "Now… weren't we supposed to be training?"

Itachi blinked at her, then he too stood up.

She blinked at him, and was irritated when her mind flicked back to Sasuke, and was stunned when she realised she knew more about Itachi than Sasuke did.

With that, she cancelled the Genjutsu on Kisame, and struck Itachi with a fierce punch, knocking him back to the floor.

This triggered a gasp from Kisame. Itachi himself even looked surprised.

"Sure your Sharingan works against the Rin'negan?" Sakura asked, managing to perfect a triumphant grin.

"I wouldn't be so sure if I was you." A voice said from behind her.

Her grin widened at the challenge, and she flipped forwards over the Itachi on the floor, who disappeared in a puff of smoke, and twisted to look for his next attack.

It appeared he was no longer interested in Genjutsu, which wasn't much of a surprise considering what had just happened.

With that, he stopped.

"That's enough for today." He said,

"What?" Both she and Kisame asked.

"Oh come on I was just getting warmed up!"

"I was only asked to test your Genjutsu, and it is clear that your Rin'negan is powerful enough to repel it, even against the Mangekyou Sharingan." He said, "That is all Pein wanted to know."

"Itachi." She said, "Are you sure that's all your up for? Wouldn't it be a little embarrassing to say you were beaten by Leader-sama's kid sister?"

Itachi stared at her, then smirked. "You couldn't beat me if you tried."

"Is that a fact? Who was just flattened by one of my punches?" She asked,

"That was a clone."

"Seemed to last pretty long for a clone." She said, her arms crossing and an eyebrow cocked.

Kisame watched the pair of them. What had just happened? Something between them was gone, replaced by something new. He could tell just by the way they were looking at each other.

Specifically the look he thought he would never see in Itachi's eyes.

An _interested_ look.

Also, there appeared to be a new understanding in Sakura's eyes, almost as if any friction between them was gone.

_Interesting._ He thought, and smirked. _Not sure Pein will be too happy about that._

**(A/N) And there we go. Abrupt end to the chapter, I agree, but if I go any further I'll hit one massive plotline and leave a cliffie. ItaSaku is beginning, but how long will it last, and how far will it go? This is the choice for the reviewers, actually. The new Plot line that will come up very soon will probably put it on a backburner. This is your one chance to decide :D**

**Next Chapter: Torn **(Sakura is sent on a mission with Itachi and Kisame, but she can tell something just isn't right… what is Pein up to?)


	10. Torn

**(A/N) Don't you HATE hackers?! You can blame Hackers for the lateness of this chapter – they literally ko'd my laptop. So bad it won't even switch on!! I'm using my nan's to update this chapter. I have no other connections to the Internet. Oh the joy.**

**Second thing: Reviewers! I love you! I have now made it past the 100 review barrier! YEAHHH!**

**Third: Be prepared for some surprises in this chapter, plus Jiraiya's departure has been delayed as I realised a certain plot line will have to wait, otherwise this story will end rather quickly. Hopefully you can forgive me for updating so LATE.**

It had been a month since Sakura had joined the Akatsuki, and every one of those days was accompanied by a training session with Itachi and Kisame. Both she and Itachi had managed to keep an even score up until now, and were now drawn at 19-19. The first one to twenty was the winner.

Kisame had attempted to muscle in on their training regime, but something would happen mid-battle to restart a meaningless fight between the two, so, he had had to take a backseat while they finished their… ahem… 'training'.

"Hah!"

"You honestly believed that would work?"

"Of course. Couldn't you tell by my 'hah'?"

"Sakura. That was pretty pathetic coming from a Rin'negan User."

"Then teach me, Uchiha!"

"I couldn't teach you anything."

"What, aren't you a good enough teacher?"

"No. I only teach the best."

"Don't give me that crap, Itachi!"

"Hn. Bothered?"

"No, because I'm still gonna win whether you teach me or not!"

"Likely… _not_."

Pein was standing in the doorway leading out to the courtyard, watching what could only be described as a _play_ fight between Sakura and Itachi. Sitting nearby was Kisame, who was watching the events unfold with an amused expression on his face.

Pein eyed how they now appeared to be sparring, while every now and then one of them was knocked to the floor, causing a triumphant grin/smirk from one of them.

This was supposed to be training. Itachi was given specific orders to test Sakura's ability against his Mangekyou Sharingan, and leave it at that. How it had expanded over the course of a month and declined into such a meaningless battle of fisticuffs was anyone's guess.

Although…

Pein noticed how they were physically close to one another even as they fought. It was hard to see, but blatantly obvious when you noticed it. Almost like realising your dreaming. Neither appeared to be giving any clues whatsoever that anything had changed between them, and that this was merely a friendly spar between two Shinobi.

But _that _was exactly the problem.

Akatsuki doesn't _do_ friendly.

"Don't you think it's time you gave up?" Kisame asked. "You won't beat him. Believe me, I've tried."

"Never!" Sakura grinned. _Give up? When I've come so close to handing Itachi his arse on a plate? Not in this lifetime!_

Pein's eyes widened at the expression on her face. She was happy. It was the first time he'd seen her properly smile since entering the Akatsuki base. It caused his chest to tighten in such a disturbing way that he found himself having to look away. Pein didn't feel emotions. Especially ones that would distract him from his goal.

He sighed as a tiny, minuscule voice in the back of his mind said, _but she's family_.

"So you've noticed too."

Pein looked back to see Konan standing there.

"Noticed what?"

"She's smiling already." Konan said, "Seems she's already settling in."

"I don't think it's that." He folded his arms. "I think she's just forg-!"

He stopped.

"Haha! Told you I'd win!"

She was sitting on Itachi's back; his arms were pulled behind him.

The expression on his face showed his disgust at losing to her.

Kisame laughed, "And the winner is-!"

"Me."

The Itachi beneath Sakura disappeared, and she now had her hands behind her back.

She soon had her face buried in the gravel.

"Great. Just _great_."

"Hn. Sore loser?"

She looked back at him and grinned. Neither made any attempt to move from their position as they continued their banter.

Standing in the doorway, Pein's eyes narrowed.

"_Oh_." Konan grinned, now watching Pein's expression.

_What the hell. Get off her already. Pervert._

Pein's mind started going into a world of its own, imagining numerous disturbing situations where Sakura would be in danger, again showing the overprotective emotions he had sensed before when Hidan attacked her. What was it about Sakura that he saw red when anyone came too close? Was he seriously growing attached to his little sister?

No. He'd removed that part of himself a long time ago, along with his emotions. That was how he had come this far. How he was coming so close to achieving his goal. How he had gained Godlike status in Amegakure.

But now…

_Now_…

Pein the destroyer was getting _pissed_ over the fact some guy was taking an interest in his little sister?

How petty.

…

_Why the hell hasn't he got off her yet?_

"That… that's _friction_, do you see that? Didn't I say when she came here, specifically, no friction within the group?" Pein asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Pein." She said exasperatedly, unable to suppress a grin.

He stalked out into the training ground, and Itachi stood immediately, Sakura standing too.

"Nii-san." She greeted, "Me and Itachi were training."

"I saw." Pein said, cocking an eyebrow.

Sakura stared at him. _What now? Oh don't tell me he's still mad about what Hidan did?_

"A new mission has come up in Iwagakure." Pein said, his eyebrow forcibly coming back down to its normal level, where it sat there, twitching.

Konan managed to keep her expression neutral, even though she had no idea what he was going on about.

"Iwa… gakure?" Sakura asked, not liking the sound of it one bit. The Village Hidden in the Rocks was never pleasant. Neither its Ninja nor its location were at all appealing.

"Assassination mission, right?" Kisame asked, "About time."

Sakura looked at him. "Assassination? Who?"

"We have spies in each of the Ninja Villages." Konan said, noting Sakura's confusion, "It isn't often that they betray us, but when they do, it's painfully obvious."

"Yes." Pein said quietly, "He has recently become a missing nin, and tried to redeem himself by telling the Tsuchikage of our whereabouts, who we have no doubt, has contacts within Konohagakure. Due to the strained relationship between both Konoha and Iwa, the Tsuchikage may not relent any of this information to the Hokage. However, it would be too risky allowing the contact to live, in case he relays any more information, therefore, it is imperative that this contact is eliminated at once."

They all nodded.

"Finally. Something I can get my teeth into." Kisame said.

"Unfortunately not. This task is for Sakura."

Sakura visibly flinched.

A lone mission?

"Uhh… nii-san… aren't I in their group?" She asked.

Pein froze. He hadn't banked on Sakura knowing about that already. To remove her from their group now after her training with them for a month would look too suspicious, but at the same time, he didn't want to leave her in the company of Itachi for too long.

_Damn it._

Itachi watched Pein and Konan, surprised at this latest development. Then, he noticed Konan's change in expression.

Before she had looked calm, but now she looked amused. Pein, looked distinctly uncomfortable.

His eyes narrowed. _Why?_

"Right. Yes. All three of you… will go." Pein said, now looking decidedly grumpy as Konan handed Itachi the mission details.

Sakura cocked an eyebrow. _What is up with him? _She glanced at Konan, who was keeping a too-straight face, her lips twitching now and then.

Her eyes narrowed, and she followed both Kisame and Itachi.

As soon as they left, Pein sighed and Konan chuckled. He looked at her.

"What is so funny, Konan?" He asked, his voice stern, but that made her laugh even more.

"There's being a good big brother… but then there's being an overprotective big brother. How long have you known her? I mean, really known her. A month?" She asked, "And what was all that about the assassination? I thought he was being guarded by-!"

"He is." Pein said softly, "But _they _don't know that."

Konan stared at him, confused, "Pein-san?"

"Our spies in Konoha have been in contact with us again." He said, "It seems a certain sensei of ours knows of this base."

Konan's expression darkened. "He is on his way?"

"Not yet, apparently. His attachment to the Kyuubi container seems to be keeping him from leaving. Therefore, it is very likely that he will arrive at an inappropriate time, when we don't expect him."

She paused. "When Sakura is here?"

"Yes." He paused, "I doubt her emotional connections to Konoha have been completely severed… it's time to test her loyalties. She may show no affection for Konoha… but that's because she hasn't had to deal with them as an enemy yet. If and when he arrives, it is very likely she will attempt to stop us if a battle breaks out."

"Pein-san…" Konan paused, "When she finds out about this mission being a test, I don't think she'll take it lightly… her emotional patterns are too volatile. We witnessed that when she spoke of what happened to her in Konoha. That was no normal breeze that came in the Meeting Room."

Pein agreed. The breeze that had whipped through the room as Sakura told her story made him believe that she was far more powerful than even she knew herself. It was evident that her emotions played some part.

She was definitely a liability.

"That will be taken care of in due time." He said, "For now, at least… we wait."

--

They were running through trees towards Iwagakure when a thought struck Kisame.

"So, Sakura… you never said. Why did you want to fight Sasuke that time?" Kisame asked quietly. He was trying to gage how his teammates would react at the mention of the younger Uchiha, specifically the kunoichi.

To his surprise, Sakura groaned loudly. "You're _still_ pissed about that?"

"It is getting rather annoying, Kisame." Itachi said.

Kisame hissed through his teeth. Ganging up on him now, were they? "No, I am _not_ still pissed about that. If you must know I was wondering why Sakura was so keen to fight a Sharingan user."

Sakura paused. "It's… complicated."

Itachi looked sideways at her. _I knew it._

"Complicated?" Kisame asked,

"Yeah."

"Complicated, how?" Kisame pressed. "Now that you're travelling with Itachi it is key that we know these things if we ever come into contact with him."

She looked up at him, her expression suddenly dangerous. "All you need to know is I won't hesitate to hurt him."

"Hurt, not kill?" Kisame asked.

She didn't answer.

"You're going to make one _weird_ Akatsuki, Sakura." He said, "You'll be quite the entertainment."

With that, he moved further ahead.

"You should have lied." Itachi said quietly, "A member of Akatsuki unwilling to kill is a contradiction in itself. You're only giving him reason not to trust you."

"Itachi." She said quietly, "Do you have any idea what you did to Sasuke?"

Itachi blinked at her. "Of course I do. I made it this way."

She stared ahead, her eyes haunted.

"You didn't…" She started, "You didn't _witness_ it, Itachi… you may have been the prime cause for it but…" She shook her head. "I saw him rip his soul to shreds in order to kill you. His ambition is an obsession, the one and only thought that will go through his mind is related to you. He will not rest until he has ended you."

"Why are you saying this?" Itachi asked, stopping in his tracks, causing her to stop too.

"Because I am not _like _you, Itachi." She said, "And by you I mean the Akatsuki as a whole. I can't kill without regret. I can't maim without feeling the instinct to heal. I saw one person lose their soul for revenge. Mine is still intact… and I want it to remain that way, no matter how much it hurts."

He stared at her. "You continue like this and you'll only end up hurting yourself."

"Better me than someone else."

"Hn." He paused, "Sakura… if it came down to it… would you kill Pein?"

She blinked at him, "What… why are you asking me that…?"

"If Konoha was at risk… would you kill him?"

Her eyes widened. After a few moments of contemplation, she shook her head.

He smiled enigmatically. "Then we're more alike than you think."

With that, he shot off ahead of her.

--

_Drip._

A pale, blood-covered hand was clenched into a fist, as blood, viscous and clogged made its way down to the stone floor.

_Drip._

A Medic was standing, with his back against the wall, eyes fearful as they focused on the blaring cold intensity of the eyes in front of him.

_Drip._

The blood covered-fist struck, _splat_, and the man collapsed against the wall, joining the other bodies that littered the floor.

_Drip._

The was a clap, a shift, a whoosh, and the light dripping of blood sounded no more.

--

Jiraiya was heading towards the Hokage's office when he overheard the conversation going on within.

"_Nani?_"

"I'm afraid it's true. He also took out several Medic's as he left. The Hospital's in uproar."

Jiraiya's eyes widened, and he moved closer to the door.

"What about his comrades?"

"They've gone too."

"…"

"There was nothing we could do. As soon as his Chakra flow became normal again he went berserk."

"I thought he would… this is bad… I didn't think how strong he had become…"

"Even if you had brought more ANBU I don't think that would have been enough to stop him. His Genjutsu abilities are on a whole new level."

"… just like his brother…"

"Tsunade-sama… what are you going to tell Naruto?"

Jiraiya's eyes darkened as he finally realised who they were talking about. Uchiha Sasuke. He sighed. _Naruto… jeesh the kid's gonna be pissed…_

"… the truth."

"Are you sure that's wise? Especially now that Sakura's gone as well?"

"We can't hide it from him… it's better he finds out from me rather than someone else…"

Jiraiya turned away. _It won't matter who tells him, Tsunade-hime…_

_It'll still hurt._

--

Two days later, Sakura, Itachi and Kisame were standing behind a rockface in the Rock Country. Their target, Taioto Ryu, was now in sight. Their eyes were on the ninja they were after, who was chatting nineteen-to-the-dozen, apparently to himself.

"Look at him, acting like he doesn't have a care in the world." Kisame sneered.

Sakura moved further around the rockface, and her eyes widened as they rested on the blonde Shinobi he was talking to.

_Naruto…?_

With that, her heart plunged into her stomach.

So that's what Pein was doing.

He was testing her.

Emotionally winded from seeing Naruto there, it took Sakura several moments to realise she was a part of Akatsuki, and any moment now she would be locked in a battle with the one person she couldn't hate.

"It's the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki." Kisame said, "Quite ironic him being here when we were sent to kill a certain ninja."

Sakura's stomach clenched horribly as she looked at the person Naruto was talking to. "Who Naruto just happens to be guarding." She said in a harsh monotone. "This is my test. My inauguration mission. Pein wants to test my allegiance to Konoha."

Her face set.

"He won't be disappointed."

It did cross her mind that it was idiotic of Tsunade to give Naruto the position of guarding an ex-Akatsuki spy. Couldn't she have realised the risks behind it?

Unless of course Pein had more connections than he let on.

No, it was more likely that she had no idea what the man was, and the very fact that he was from Iwagakure on top of the broken bonds between that village and Konoha had put Naruto in very real danger. It was just lucky that the Kyuubi Extraction was not scheduled for another three months, otherwise, it would have been a catastrophic mistake.

Her heart sank further when she realised the people Naruto was with. Kakashi, Hinata and Sai.

"Hah. The Copy Ninja _and_ the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Samehada is going to have a feast today." Kisame said.

For once, Sakura didn't answer. She was utterly speechless at the brilliance of Pein's scheme. Let her settle in for a month, allowing her to form new 'bonds' within Akatsuki, then send her on a mission that directly opposed Naruto's. It was just lucky that Sakura had been spending so much time in Itachi's company that her emotions were somewhat dimmer than usual.

Maybe that was Pein's plan as well.

_Got to admire him for his audacity,_ Sakura thought bitterly, _been there a month and he's _now _seeking an opportunity to catch me out?_

Her fists clenched tighter as she reminded herself why she had left to join him in the first place. She closed her eyes, remembering the fearful glares, Danzou's madness and her mother.

It was her mother that stirred enough rage in her to keep focused on the goal, and she would continue. She must.

"They've probably sensed us by now." Itachi said, "We should move." He looked at Sakura, whose eyes were more than determined beneath her hat.

With that, they flipped out from behind the rockface and landed in front of the four Shinobi.

Sakura's stomach twisted uncomfortably under the unnaturally vicious gaze directed at her from Naruto.

"What the hell do you bastards want?" He asked angrily. "Come to collect me?"

"Actually, no." Itachi said quietly, "But I'm afraid you're going to fail this mission."

"Can't be helped." Kisame concurred, "The Akatsuki doesn't like spies."

Kakashi and the others looked at each other.

"Though I guess you didn't tell them about that, huh, Ryu?" Sakura asked, her eyes flicking to the rapidly widening ones of the dark haired Shinobi. The smile had been wiped clean off his face. _Yup. You're in trouble._ "I doubt one such as you would have enough money to pay for an S-Rank Mission."

With that, she saw Itachi and Kisame removing their hats, so with slight trepidation, she removed hers too.

The Shinobi in front of her's eyes immediately widened. Kakashi's eyes were wide with shock, along with Hinata, while Sai showed only a slight modicum of surprise before his expression darkened once again. Naruto's face contorted with both shock and grief.

"What?" He asked, staring at her in pure horror, his voice lowered, "Sakura-chan… so you really are in Akatsuki…"

With much effort, she didn't lower her gaze. "Hey, Naruto."

He stared at her, his teeth gritting, "Sakura-chan… _why_?"

She felt her inner self flaring at the question and the 'chan'. _Why would I stay in a village that wants to kill me?_ _And if they didn't then, they would have wanted to because of the Political trouble I would have caused! Why would I stay in a village that murdered my family?_

Instead however, she said, "That is not of your concern."

"What?" He asked, flabbergasted, "How can it not be of my concern? Those bastards want to _kill _me, Sakura!"

"To the contrary, _we_ want what's inside of you. The fact that you die at the same time is an unavoidable side effect." She said coolly. Inside however, her anger was waning. After all, what had Naruto done?

_Eyes on the mission, Sakura._

Kisame was stunned at her self-control. She had never displayed such control over her emotions before, and with every word she was proving to him just how idiotic it was to have doubted her. She was a Shinobi, after all.

Itachi wasn't fooled. He hadn't missed how her fists were shaking with the effort of keeping calm. Added to that, he highly doubted that she would try and kill them, especially considering her declaration the day before.

Naruto however, was showing nothing but hurt at her words, after a few speechless seconds, he changed the subject. "You're coming back to the village!"

"No I'm not." She deadpanned, "Why would I want to go back to a village that murdered my family?"

"So you were stitched up." Kakashi said quietly, though his eyes were emotionless, "But leaving the village and joining the Akatsuki are two vastly different things. I thought better of you, Sakura."

"Better." She repeated, allowing her anger to seep in, "So you didn't think I was the weakest member of Team Seven, _sensei_?"

He sighed. "You are the weakest member, Sakura."

Her eyes narrowed, and her fists clenched, if possible, tighter.

"Succumbing to grief, and rage. That _is _weak." He said, "But that has nothing to do with this."

"You're right. It hasn't. Now leave Ryu to us, and there will be no need for a fight." She said, her voice starting to shake.

Kisame grinned. "She's just like you, Itachi. Past attachments mean nothing… I'm impressed."

Itachi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Couldn't he see how close she was to breaking point? "Looks like we have to fight."

"I never… Sakura-chan… _please_…" Naruto said.

"Let me go, Naruto." She said, "It's foolish chasing after me and Sasuke… even if you did bring us back… we would only leave again. I'm guessing Sasuke has tried already."

They didn't answer, all of them wearing determined expressions.

"I don't want to do this!" Naruto shouted, his blood-red eyes wide with tears, "Don't – don't the past few years mean _anything_ to you?!"

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata murmured.

Sakura eyes were beginning to flash, betraying the war raging within. She had to act now, or she'd lose her resolve to go against them.

"Defend yourself, Naruto!" She declared, and with that, plunged her fist into the ground, creating a shattering effect and knocking Naruto off his feet as the others launched into the air.

"_Katon: Goukakyou no Jutsu!_" Itachi cried, seizing this opportune moment to fry the flying Shinobi.

"Fine." Naruto growled, "Then I'll just have to beat you back!"

Sakura watched as the Kyuubi's Chakra started to envelope Naruto, at a much speedier rate than usual. It seemed that the Seal had decayed even further while Sakura had been away.

That made things worryingly problematic for all of them. If they weren't enough already.

Naruto glared at her.

"I'll bring you back, Sakura… even if it kills me I'll bring you back… I'll make you see sense…"

She bowed her head. "Forgive me, Naruto."

**(A/N) Afraid I'll have to leave it there. It's not too much of a Cliffie, but I'm about to step into some NaruHina territory, which basically deserves a Chapter to itself cos of its fluffiness.**

**Next Chapter: Broken **(Spoiler: A Fifth Tail Naruto, an injured Kisame, a tearful Hinata, a bewildered Itachi, and Pein gets 'glomped'. The wonders never cease.)


	11. Broken

**(A/N) Here comes a whole bunch of angsty fluffy 'aww!!'. Much thanks to all the reviewers for last chapter (**Unknownchocolate**, **xxpatixx**,** Mirai No Dinurs**,** Dreamergirl9283**, **BlackButterfly-RedRose**,** Tip Of The Top Hat**,** Amanda**, **shae**, **xxx1xxx**, **cowtippr**, **winged wondergirl**, **Daughter of Unending Darkness**, **shadowmiko**, **Enumoon**, **akatsuki's hikari**, **Miss Anonymiss**, **Icecream Skittles Addict**, **crzyaznsroxursox**,** fairy246**,** EverMindTheRuleOfThree**,** ottawa**,** Pandastacia**,** saya-plus**,** Black Fire Blossom **and **AkatsukiSakura76**!), special thanks goes to **randigirl** (a certain Sakura and Konan moment) and **BlackButterfly-RedRose **(GLOMP). Glomping of Pein has been coming for quite a while!**

Naruto paused momentarily, managing to restrain the Kyuubi for a little longer. It seemed he wasn't going to let her go without a fight. "Sakura… whatever it is your going through… I know it hurts… but this isn't the only way!" He said, "You have friends in the Village!"

"I hate the Village." She said, her Rin'negan seeming more prominent than ever as she recalled her reasons for leaving, "My mother was left choking on her own blood, all because she was good enough to take me in when I was orphaned. Because of my power, Danzou saw fit to murder her, just to get me to leave."

"So you left, doing what Danzou expected you to do?" Kakashi snapped,

"You're forgetting the fact that he executed both himself and all of ANBU Root." She said, her eyes flicked sideways to Kakashi, whose expression hadn't changed. "What would have happened to me if I had stayed, Kakashi? It doesn't take a genius to work out that I was the prime suspect for the deaths. The Elders would have executed me before I had a chance to explain myself, and don't try to deny it."

"As I said before, leaving and joining Akatsuki are two different things." He said, shaking his head.

"It would have been unwise for me to remain a lone Ninja, don't you think? Especially with your Hunter nin's." She said.

"Look who you're standing with!" Naruto cried, "That's Uchiha Itachi! Don't you understand that he's the one who has made Sasuke like he is! He killed his own family! Don't you think you're a hypocrite standing with him?!"

"Itachi is a valuable asset to the Akatsuki, and to my brother's goals." She said, "What you speak of is between he and Sasuke. It's about time you stopped getting in the way of their goals, don't you think?"

"Sakura! What's _wrong_ with you?!" He shouted, "This isn't you! They've poisoned your mind!"

"Enough talk." Kisame said quietly, "I'd rather feed Samehada and be done with it. It's been a while since I've had a good battle."

"Kisame's right… Sakura."

She looked sideways at Itachi, and nodded.

Her eyes were drawn back to Naruto, who was slowly getting more and more out of control.

"Hinata! Sai!" Kakashi shouted, he too seemed to recognise the danger they were in.

Sakura's eyes widened as she recognised what was going to happen next. With that, she dived sideways, taking Itachi with her as Naruto's Chakra exploded outwards with the force of a bomb.

They rolled down the side of the area into the ditch below. They both shielded their eyes as the intensely bright aftershocks ripped through the area around them.

"With Naruto like this he'll kill the spy for us." Itachi said, his eyes on the crater Naruto had just created.

A groan issued nearby, and Sakura's eyes widened.

"Kisame."

They both rushed in the direction of the groan, to find the ninja in his own self-made ditch.

"Damn it… I'm gonna… _kill_… that brat!" Kisame said, but seemed utterly unable to move. It was then that both Itachi and Sakura realised one of his arms was missing.

"Where's your arm?" Itachi asked quietly, and Sakura gave him an incredulous look. Kisame however, used his head to gesture to the left. Itachi looked, left, and soon returned with Kisame's arm in hand.

Sakura stared at him in disbelief. "Am I missing something?"

Kisame looked her up and down, and said, "No."

She slapped her hand to her forehead. "_Baka_! What I'm asking is why the-?"

"Kakuzu will put it back on when we get back to base." Itachi said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She blinked at him, the arm that he was holding up in the air, and back at Kisame.

_You have GOT to be kidding me._

"_Enjoying yourself, Sakura?_"

Her eyes widened, and she looked around to see…

_Oh my God. Naruto._

Already his skin had burned from his skin, and instead fur was sprouting in its place. He had also just proved that while in this form, he could speak… or, well, the Kyuubi could speak.

She blinked at the tails behind him, hurriedly counting them.

_Five._

Seeing her paralysed by a mix of a shock and horror, the Kyuubi-Naruto seized the opportunity to grab her front. The raw stench of blood and shrivelling skin caught her senses instantly, the evil Chakra bearing down on her to the extent it was suffocating. She let out a cry of pain as it burnt through her top with no problem whatsoever, leaving her, and her neck and collarbone, exposed to the flaming Chakra.

"_What's wrong?_" He asked, his hand now moving to her neck, causing her to cry out in pain once again, "_Think the brat would be strong enough to hold me back before I got to this level?_"

She stared at him, her Rin'negan spiralling as she struggled to restrain her panic. Finally it hit her what she should do, and she closed her eyes.

Moments later, she opened them once again, mimicking Itachi's Tsukuyomi motion. That seemed to be enough to send the Kyuubi-Naruto launching back in what appeared to be pain.

She looked around to find that both Itachi and Kisame were gone… and that Kakashi and Sai were heading straight for her.

_Oh._ She thought. _Oh… this is bad._

She rolled away just in time to avoid another strike from Naruto, hissing in pain as her burnt collarbone met gravel. She twisted again as Kakashi's Raikiri slammed into the place her back had just been.

She rolled once again as Naruto left another indent in the ground.

_Any more of this…_

She thought, twisting once again to avoid Sai.

_And I'm gonna get _pissed.

She forced herself up into a standing position, and realised that Itachi had moved Kisame back to the place they'd started, in order to keep him out of harm's way, and was now rejoining the battle.

Her attention back on Naruto, or what Naruto had become, she realised there was no way they were going to win this battle. The only chance was to run… just like Orochimaru had when he went up against the Four-Tailed version.

But _how_ could she do that when Naruto would be able to catch up in no time?

Added to that, she couldn't just leave Itachi to fight alone, and Kisame's injuries meant he would be no help whatsoever if it came down to either fighting or running for their lives.

She sighed. _If this is an inauguration mission what the heck are the REAL missions like?_

"_That all you got, Sakura?_" The Kyuubi-Naruto asked viciously, "_Come on, entertain me some more._"

Her eyes twitched.

"_Katon: Kuchiyose no Jutsu_!" She said, her whole body becoming alive with flames, her hands pressed together again, "_Fuuton: Kuchiyose no Jutsu_!"

Kakashi stared at her, watching the two elements binding and spiralling around her, as if they had become one with her Chakra. Having never seen elements summoned or used in conjunction like that by a single person, he couldn't deny that he was impressed.

Slowly, her arm raised in the air, dragging up the red and blue flames with it. Finally, she said, "_Doton: Kuchiyose no Jutsu!_" And she slammed all three elements into the ground, spanning across, the area, blocking she, Itachi and Kisame from view.

Knowing the Chakra wall wouldn't hold them for long, particularly with Hinata and Naruto on their team, Sakura used her remaining Chakra to sprint to Itachi, who was surveying the wall with his Sharingan, eyes wide with what looked like awe.

"Itachi!" She shouted. He looked around at her, understanding her intent, he spun round and they both raced to Kisame.

Once they reached him, they heard Naruto roar from within, and Sakura winced as the Chakra wall faded and he started running towards them.

"_You're not getting away. You'll NEVER get away!_"

She closed her eyes one hand on Kisame, one on Itachi, and cried, "_Now_!"

--

The Kyuubi's eyes widened with shock as all three Akatsuki vanished in a wave of Sakura petals. He let out a cry of rage and turned to find a seal being slapped on his forehead by Kakashi.

The silver-haired Shinobi jumped back immediately, knowing that Naruto could still be dangerous even when the Kyuubi's Chakra was being sealed.

The return to Naruto's original state was going much slower than usual as the paper bearing the seal started to burn. It seemed Naruto's emotions were still too out of control to fully dampen the Kyuubi's.

Standing nearby, one hand pressed to her lips, was Hinata.

She stared at him, watching as he let out a moan similar to that of a wounded dog, even as the seal started to crumble.

_This… because of Sasuke and Sakura…?_

She bowed her head.

_They only cause you pain… no more!_

She dashed forwards, _"Naruto_!_"_

"Hinata don't-!" Kakashi gasped, but an arm went across his chest to stop him. He looked sideways to see Sai standing there. "What-?"

Sai looked at him, "Just wait."

Kakashi's eyes widened.

Hinata found herself frozen in front of the Kyuubi-Naruto, her eyes wide. The seal on his forehead was now little more than dust, but it had managed to dampen the Kyuubi's Chakra to the point where Naruto was now in his two-tailed state. She tried to force herself to move, but her muscles refused to obey her.

_Dammit_… She thought_, Not again…_

Her legs had gone jelly-like. The Kyuubi-Naruto was glaring at her, his teeth gritted, waiting for her to make her move.

Shaking, she remembered the real Naruto. The one who would never give up. Yet there she was, her chance to save him, and her legs had gone to jelly.

_No… no more hiding… Naruto needs me!_

With only her willpower, she moved forwards the last few step, and grasped hold of his face.

His red eyes widened slightly, as Hinata continued to stare at him with fear in her lilac eyes, but behind them lingered a determination that couldn't be surpassed.

The Kyuubi Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "_Yes_?"

She shivered at how demonic his voice sounded, such a stark contrast to his usual, loud, bright and welcoming voice that had, on numerous occasions, made her pass out. Seeing him like this, seeing this change… it filled her only with despair.

"P-Please… stop…" She said, as her eyes filled with tears, "_Please_…"

He glared at her. "_Why?_"

She gave a cry of pain when he lunged forwards and grabbed hold of her arms, the red Chakra immediately burning through the material there.

Kakashi made to step forwards, but Sai pushed him back.

"_Why should I stop_?_"_

She stared at him, and as Kakashi and Sai watched, it seemed the Hyuuga heiress herself was cloaked in light blue, providing a brilliant contrast to Naruto's blood-red.

She gave another cry of pain as his hands grew tighter.

"_Well? TALK!"_

She started to shake. _I'M TRYING!_ She bowed her head. "B…B…"

"_B-B-B – what?"_

She stared at his face, at the writhing red Chakra that swirled around him, at the pain, the anger, the hurt in his face. His eyes, normally the beautiful, sapphire blue that were far too wise for one so young that she had fallen in love with, were a fierce, malevolent red.

"_What's the problem, Hinata? Cat got your tongue_?_"_ He asked viciously.

_Now. Speak. For god's sake. Speak!_ She shouted at herself, but her jaw seemed to be locked. His taunting of her wasn't doing much for her already shaky self-esteem.

She closed her eyes, remembering the twelve-year-old Naruto, how he had cheered her on when she fought against Neji. How much she had needed him at that point.

"_Come on Hinata! Are you just gonna stand there and take that?! Do something! You're driving me crazy!_"

Then she remembered her fight against the wasps, how he had watched her, only her. How she had lay in his arms as he beamed at her.

"_You were amazing, Hinata._"

The too-wide smile on his face that concealed all the dark emotions he'd felt. The belief. The devotion.

The _hope_.

With that, her whole body gave in to shakes, and tears streamed down her cheeks as she longed for that hope to return. His face was devoid of it, a myriad of hatred and malice.

Her face crumpled. "Because you're _breaking_ my heart!"

The ferocity in Naruto's expression gave way to pure, blinding shock. He stared at her, his eyes slowly sliding back into the blue as he stared at the Hyuuga heiress shaking in front of him. He blinked at her, as she merely stood there, shaking, staring at him with an emotion he couldn't begin to describe as more tears fell down her cheeks.

"Every time you use Kyuubi you get injured and…" She said, her voice a monotone, rather than its usual breathy high-pitched, borderline ultrasound tone. For once in her life, Hinata was speaking from the heart. "I can't _stand_ it! And you're so _blind_ what it does to me, Naruto!" More hot tears dribbled down her cheeks as her voice started to fail her and return to its usual squeaky manner. "How… how much it _hurts_!"

Naruto continued to stare at her, his eyes wide. For as far as he could remember, there was nobody else who had cried for him. The tidalwave of emotions that she was showing towards him was more than he could take.

He'd seen this sort of destructive emotion before… with Sakura and Sasuke. His stomach flipped when he realised he was in Sasuke's shoes.

She blinked back at him, then bowed her head as the tears came full force, and she stood there, shaking.

"Hinata…?"

She didn't, or rather, _couldn't_ answer. She continued to shake with tears, her burnt hands finally leaving Naruto's face and slid down his chest, clenching into fists as they did.

Naruto paused, not having any clue what to do in such a situation. He'd never been put in one of these before. Somehow, he knew that behaving like Sasuke wasn't the best idea, especially after witnessing what it had done to Sakura.

But at the same time… Hinata was the Hyuuga heiress.

To do anything other than to watch her…

_Wait a god damn minute! Since when did I give a damn about rules?_ Naruto thought, then moved forwards, embraced her, and waited for her to faint.

But she didn't. He tensed as her arms slowly snaked around him, her hands coming to rest on his shoulderblades.

She was hugging him back.

Naruto's eyes widened, once again, in the space of five minutes, she'd surprised him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd received a hug, or in fact, if he'd _ever_ received a hug. It was because of this, that instead of it being Hinata, Naruto was the one whose knees gave way.

She would never truly understand what it meant to him. How many times he'd craved to be held. How much he for once, just wanted to be touched without having to ask or cause an awkward moment.

In the space of five minutes, she'd hit him harder than anyone ever had or could. _Twice_. And she would never know just how much it meant to him.

She went with him as he slid to the floor.

"Hinata…" He said quietly.

She froze, thinking she'd done something wrong. "Y-Yes…?"

Naruto smiled through his tears at her reaction. It was _such_ a Hinata moment. He remembered how she'd go red and faint whenever he was near, and finally, finally, he knew why. He held her closer and murmured. "Thank you."

Standing nearby, Kakashi looked incredulously at Sai.

"How did you…?" The fact that Sai had caught on to something that was purely emotion based was quite possibly the most capricious thing that Kakashi had seen for a while. Sai may have just surpassed Naruto. "How did you know?"

"I didn't. I just thought with her being the Hyuuga heiress she could handle it."

Kakashi sweatdropped.

Or… maybe not.

He looked around. "Huh? Where's Ryu?"

Sai started, it seemed in the heat of battle they had forgotten all about their charge.

Kakashi then noticed a body on the floor.

He dashed forwards, and saw the dead Ryu, and a kunai protruding out of his chest with a small note attached to it.

'_Farewell.'_

He looked at Sai, and was about to comment on the note, when he saw him watching Naruto and Hinata with an odd expression on his face.

Kakashi smiled knowingly beneath his mask.

--

Finally, Itachi, Kisame and Sakura landed in a heap in a cave near the outskirts of Amegakure.

As her destination had been uncertain, and the fact she had never travelled with a passenger before, let alone two, Sakura felt immediately drained.

It took a few moments for her eyes to clear, but when they did, they widened in shock. There, now in full clear view of her Rin'negan, she found that she was now in a rather compromising position on top of Itachi. Her whole body was positioned directly on top of his, their legs entangled. What people, more specifically, Kisame, would think when he saw them like this, well… the image and it's meaning was not lost on her.

Sakura tried to remove herself from him, but her Chakra had been drained by her teleportation so much she found herself blacking out whenever she tried it, but other than that, there was no movement between them. As Itachi also appeared to be somewhat incapacitated, she had no choice but to slump on him until her Chakra was restored enough for her to move without falling unconscious.

_Hmm, this isn't so bad. _Inner Sakura smiled.

"Sakura." Itachi said quietly.

His voice surprisingly distant, and she didn't hear the vibrations in his chest.

Slowly, she looked around to see Itachi standing there with a bemused expression on his face.

It was then, and only then that she realised she hadn't fallen on Itachi at all.

She had fallen on Kisame.

_ARRRRRGH! _Inner Sakura screamed and collapsed. On the outside, however, Sakura found herself silent and incapacitated. Though, whether it was from physical injury or from pure embarrassment she had no idea. Already she knew she was developing a tomato-esque hue on her cheeks.

"You know. As you're a Medic, I know it's your thing to get up close and personal with your patients, but uhh… do you mind toning it down a little?" Kisame asked, his voice full of humour.

"The moment I can move, I _will_." She said, her voice forcibly monotonous, "Itachi… can you… help me get off him?"

Itachi feigned misunderstanding. "Why?"

Sakura's eyes narrowed to slits, all politeness forgotten. "Get. Me. Off. Him."

Itachi merely smirked at her.

_Bloody Uchiha. You are SO paying for this!_

Finally deciding it was worth getting unconscious for, she rolled off Kisame, and blacked out.

Itachi moved forwards, surveying her with his Sharingan. Chakra depletion.

"I was right. She is entertaining." Kisame snickered.

Out of Kisame's view, his fingers traced the salmon-pink burn that span down the centre of her torso, scarring her porcelain skin. It was only minor, and with her skills he was certain it'd be healed in no time. With that, he turned away from her, finding her to be alarmingly distracting, and looked at Kisame.

"Once she wakes, we leave." He said.

"Why can't we leave now? We're close enough to the base."

"Yes, but imagine Pein's reaction at seeing Sakura unconscious."

Kisame grimaced. "So you're telling me I have to stay like this until she wakes up?"

"Hn."

"… can't you wake her up now?"

"I could, but there would be no point. She would be unable to move anyway."

"… damn it."

-

Sakura's eyes flickered open, and she found herself staring at a ceiling of what appeared to be a cave. She sat up, and winced, then looked around. Sitting on her left, evidently asleep, was Itachi, while lying on her right was Kisame.

Then she looked down at her burns. The image of Naruto's five-tailed form flicked across her vision, and she found herself needing to get some fresh air.

She sneaked past Itachi, and went and stood in the rain outside. She hissed slightly at feeling the seemingly stark cold rain against her flame-hot chest, but she put up with it.

She felt, on some level, that she deserved Naruto's rage towards her. He had done nothing to her, the opposite in fact, and yet he was suffering. Just like her mother had.

She closed her eyes, and found herself beginning to shake as she ran over the conversation they'd had.

_Sakura-chan… please…_

She tried to shake him off, but his words still came to her like kunai in her gut.

_I don't want to do this!_

The desperation in his voice, the grief, and finally, the image of his five-tailed form came to mind.

She tilted her face up at the sky as the rain seemed to become heavier.

Memories of Naruto were running through her mind, every now and then flicking back to his four-tailed and five-tailed forms.

_So, Sakura-chan, about that date…_

_I'll get Sasuke back, no matter what!_

_Sakura-chan… so you really are in Akatsuki…_

_Sakura-chaaan!_

_I'll tell you how I feel about you!_

_What? How can it not be my concern? Those bastards want to kill me, Sakura!_

_Come on, Sakura! Don't let that Ino girl beat you!_

_I'll bring you back, Sakura… even if it kills me I'll bring you back… I'll make you see sense…_

_Sakura-chan…_

Her teeth gritted.

_You're not getting away. You'll NEVER get away!_

"Sakura."

She started, and looked around.

To find Itachi staring back at her. It was impossible to gage how long he had been standing there, watching her. His eyes, as ever, were the emotionless, vivid red they always were. His bangs were blowing about, and she realised that the wind had picked up. Again. She saw a hint of pity in his eyes, but was busy convincing herself she'd imagined it when her own blurred to the point she couldn't see him. Trying to swallow her tears, she inwardly winced as a wayward tear made its way down the side of her face.

Luckily it was raining, and it was possible he hadn't seen it, but she _knew_ he had. Itachi was annoying that way. With that, she felt his hand on her wrist.

The shock of him touching her seemed to be enough to stop the wind, but not the rain. After a few moments, his Sharingan faded, revealing the onyx eyes beneath. Stunned, she just stared at him, and couldn't stop herself from noting how much more _approachable_ he looked now that his onyx eyes were visible.

Her eyes then moved down to his hand on her wrist.

"… it's all right." He murmured, and she looked up at his face, her eyes wide. With that, she closed the gap between them, and leant her face against his chest, the tears now running freely down her cheeks.

Itachi stared down at the top of her head. He didn't know what had possessed him to say that, but it seemed she had needed comfort of some kind. She had been there for him, after all. He was just returning the favour.

"We should go." He said finally, releasing her wrist, and she looked up at him, and nodded.

-

Pein eyed Itachi and Sakura, Kakuzu was kneeling nearby, re-attaching Kisame's arm back to Kisame. Also standing nearby were Deidara, Tobi and Hidan, all of them having given their reports to Pein.

"You've done well under the circumstances." Pein said quietly, looking up at his sister. "However, it probably would have been better if Kisame had returned without any injuries to speak of. It was an unfortunate coincidence that you met the Jinchuuriki."

Itachi winced as he realised what was coming next.

"Is that so?"

Sakura's fist struck the top of his head, causing his chin to strike the table, making a surprising 'glomp' sound. He blinked up at her, watching her shake with suppressed rage, her hair looking as if it had been electrocuted, the burns on her neck now visible.

The other Akatsuki surrounding her all looked stunned, and moderately impressed that she'd have the guts to do such a thing.

"What was that for?" Pein asked, his hand going up to his head, where a painful lump was already growing.

"For insulting my intelligence." She snarled, she bent down in front of him, her eyes flaring, her hands resting on the table in front of him, "I don't take being lied to lightly. Enjoy your migraine, nii-san. And don't send me or Kisame on a mission until we've healed, okay?"

She then stood straight, and Pein's eyes narrowed, just as yet another fist struck the top of his head, making the 'glomp' noise once again.

He looked sideways at Konan. "What was _that _for?"

She looked coolly at her clenched fist, and shrugged, "Felt like it."

"You deserved it." Sakura agreed, nodding, moving to stand beside Konan, their arms folding.

Pein stared at the pair of them.

_I'm being bullied by women. When did this happen? How?!_

With that, he stood up, his hand on top of his head. Wincing, he missed the fact that Sakura and Konan were quickly shaking their heads at Tobi, who had moved to the other side, ready to hit Pein for himself. He retracted his hand and looked away, his arms crossing across his chest.

Sakura's eyes flicked sideways and looked at Itachi, whom she could see was watching her. She bowed her head, smiling. _Maybe this won't be too bad._

**(A/N) Enjoy? Yay, Nay? Too much? Too little?**

**Next Chapter: Distracted **(Spoiler: Spy, Patient, Lover? OOH 'ECK!)


	12. Authors Note TRAILER

**(A/N) I've uploaded a trailer for this fanfic if you want to take a look. It's my first vid tho so BE NICE. Just kidding :P. Flame if you like, honesty is always the best policy. I'll obv improve it when there are more clips to go on.**

**Here's the link: w w w dot youtube dot com forward slash watch?vtKHRtHt0z88**

**Or just search rileyonline on youtube :)**

**Will be updating the next chapter some time next week :)**

**Riley**

**XxxxX**


	13. Distracted

**(A/N) :D Look who updated! dives as books and various other items are thrown in her direction SOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY FOR LATENESS! Been one of them months I'm afraid :S Huge thank you to everyone who commented on the trailer :D, I realised I had some time to kill and a smidge of Writer's Block was rearing its ugly head so I'm gonna kick into the main plot of this very soon. Next chapter perhaps? Prepare yourselves for some nasty surprises anyway :P**

**Thanks to deep breath:** shadow miko**,** Icecream Skittles Addict**,** AkatsukiSakura73**,** Miss Anonymiss**, **Passionate Crow Rat**,** Pandastacia**,** oxymoron22**,** saya-plus**,** Mirai No Dinurs**, **Black Fire Blossom**,** Tip Of The Top Hat**,** EverMindTheRuleOfThree**,** crzyaznsroxursox**,** jackie-chan1230**,** Tora Hoshigaki**,** akatsuki's hikari**,** BlackButterfly-RedRose**,** NorthernLights25**,** fairy246**,** Lazy Azz Princess514**,** XxSadisticxPsychoxVampirexX**,** 43InuAsha**,** Inner Self**,** Usagi no Hana**,** Blood Blossom**,** Sakura4eva**,** knightchaser**,** ItAsAkU-LoVeR**, **akastuki **and **Sugarplum-sweetheart**.**

**Enjoy, hope it's been worth the wait :D (btw, yes I _did_ change this Chapters name, sorry! But spoilers are still kosher.)**

Sakura was sitting in her room, her glowing hand pressed against her breastbone, healing the burns that were there. Every now and then her thoughts would stray to Naruto, reminding her of just how far the seal of the Kyuubi had decayed. It was then that her thoughts would flick to Itachi telling her 'it's all right', causing her stomach to twist in a way that was both uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time.

She sighed. _What did he mean by that?_ _Did he just say it to get me to drop my act? Did he mean it? No… more like the former… but it's just so unlike him!_

_Oh come on, haven't you noticed?! Look at the way he looks at us. I bet nii-san's even noticed! _Inner Sakura said.

Sakura shook her head. _No. That's ridiculous. Why would he even be interested in stuff like that?_

_He's an Uchiha. Not a block of ice. There's still a testosterone junkie under that façade. I'm just betting he refuses to let that side of him out._

_You used to say that about Sasuke. Look what happened there. Quite possibly the most embarrassing years of our life._

_You're telling me. What a lame ass you used to be._

Sakura scowled, and concentrated on her neck, which was proving to be a little more difficult than usual as she couldn't see what she was doing, added to that, the Kyuubi Chakra had hit her neck like a flame-ridden poison. Though the surface of the skin was merely salmon pink, inside the cells had undergone a nightmarish ordeal. The fact that she could control her Chakra at all was a miracle in itself.

She couldn't imagine what the Chakra had done to Naruto. Perhaps Tsunade could-!

She started as her Chakra went momentarily off course and aggravated several clusters of nerve cells, sending what felt like an electric shock through her system.

Knowing it was because she hadn't concentrated, she closed her eyes, trying to focus. Though focusing on healing herself was easier said than done when Inner Sakura's increasing interruptions were more than a little distracting. The few times in which she had left her room to get something edible to sustain herself and came across Itachi, which seemed to happen _every single time _for some god-only-knows reason, their already awkward one-way conversations were often buried by Inner Sakura's incessant drooling.

"Sakura-san?" A female voice asked from behind the door.

Sighing in resignation, she slumped back against the wall. "Come in."

Moments later, the only other kunoichi walked in with a bag and a small smile.

She couldn't help but enjoy Konan's company, especially after their joint glomping of Pein, it had scored a certain camaraderie between them that Sakura hadn't truly felt since being in Konoha. Added to that, the fact that they were the only two female Akatsuki scored a natural alliance between them.

Though, Sakura still believed it to be a tad unsettling to know that Konan was twelve when she was still in nappies. And her closeness to Pein… well, who knew how far _that_ went…

"I brought you some clothes." Konan said, eyeing Sakura's now extremely low-cut top. "You can't go around wearing that, especially with Deidara around."

"Deidara?" Sakura asked, surprised. She'd always thought the blondehaired Shinobi despised her because of Sasori.

"He's one of the youngest. He's bound to be more… affected… than the others."

"Affected huh?" A sudden, unbidden evil smirk came onto her face. _So he doesn't like me, eh?_

Konan didn't miss it. "If you're going to do anything make sure it doesn't get in the way of the missions."

"Course not." Sakura smiled, she then stood up, and started picking up the tops, examining them, and she then continued in a ramble, "Though to be honest I doubt age has anything to do with it Itachi isn't that much older than Deidara yet he's never appeared to be affected by my presence."

Konan smirked inwardly. "Is that a fact?"

"He's an Uchiha." Sakura said, "He's a less emotional version of his brother, and believe me, that's saying something."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Konan said quietly, and Sakura paused in her shuffling to look at her, "Well, I'm just warning you. Plus Pein-sama's been getting increasingly protective over you. He's even been considering removing you from Itachi's group and putting you with Hidan and Kakuzu."

Sakura's jaw dropped.

"The only thing that's putting him off is their uncontrolled homicidal tendencies." Konan said, "I've been able to keep him from taking extreme measures so far but… well… he is the boss… and a God."

Sakura stared at her, her previously horrorstruck eyes lacing with confusion, uncertain that she'd heard her right. "A God?"

Konan's eyes seemed to mist over. "He's never been defeated. Not once."

"Lucky him." Sakura sighed, "But 'God''s a bit much, isn't it?" _Not to mention kinky._ Inner Sakura muttered sardonically. _Imagine what goes on in the bedroom! He probably has her worshipping his-!_

"No. It's a fact." Konan said simply, unknowingly cutting off Inner Sakura's disturbing ramblings, "Pein is a God."

_Of the bedroom department! _Inner Sakura sang, then seemed to realise just _who_ she was implying was a God of _what _and what _relationship _he had to her. That alone, seemed to reduce her to a puddle of silenced 'ew'.

"I don't…"

"You probably wouldn't understand." Konan said softly, her eyes still misty, "You have never seen him in battle."

Every respect Sakura had for Konan was slipping away the more words she said. It reminded her of a twisted version of the cringeworthy Sasuke-is-hot banter she and Ino used to have, before they became rivals.

_Ino…_ Sakura thought sadly, remembering how she and Ino used to be on a par with their skill level. The thought of Ino being on a par with her skill level now was, though modesty forbid her to admit it, laughable.

"Umm. Konan-san, I hope you don't mind but I kind of need to get on with my healing. Thank you for the clothes."

Konan seemed to snap out of her reverie, and she smiled, "It was my pleasure. Is there anything else you need?"

Sakura shook her head, and Konan left. With that, she sat down, her legs crossing; she prepared to become engrossed once again in her healing, when she heard another knock at her door.

"Come in." She said, now not bothering to stop healing herself. The door opened, there was a shuffle, and the door closed again.

Sakura looked up tiredly to see the only blonde-haired Akatsuki standing there, his back straight against the wall. Struggling not to feel alarmed by his odd behaviour, and the fact that he was in her room of all places, she blinked at him,

"What is it, Deidara-san?" She asked,

"Your Chakra flow is unusual, yeah. I came to investigate." He said.

"What do you mean, and how do you-?" She stared at him, watching his jaw lock and unlock. He _was_ incredibly tense, almost too tense, plus he seemed like he wanted to stay as close to the door as possible.

Alarmed, she stopped healing herself, "Deidara-san? What's wrong?"

"Well, let's just say your… Chakra has been sending out waves, yeah." He said, and to her surprise she saw his cheeks flare pink, making him look much more effeminate than usual. She paused, mulling over his seemingly abrupt statement.

"Waves?" She repeated, and then it clicked. She realised that every time she had missed, the right spot, she hadn't just sent an electric shock through herself, but sent a wave of Chakra through the area too. "Oh, right, I keep losing my concentration because of the Chakra's poison-like effects. Sorry about that."

"Do you mind uhh… not doing it again, hm?"

She stared at him, and she suddenly found it to be a struggle to look nonchalantly concerned as she started to realise why he was so tense. She locked her own jaw and asked lightly, "Why?"

"Because it's – _distracting_, yeah!" Deidara said loudly, evidently flustered by her questioning.

Smiling lightly, she asked softly, her voice oddly high pitched, "You mean my Chakra has made your nerve bundles awaken down your spine provoking an involuntary reaction in your genitalia?"

Deidara blushed a deeper shade of red, though his expression showed she was on his to-kill list and he replied softly, "_Yes_."

She nodded, "Sorry, Deidara-san."

She looked at her hands, which were already starting to shake once again. Deidara honestly didn't realise what he was asking of her, but then again, if she were him, she would be incredibly uncomfortable with being inexplicitly turned on in the middle of a dangerous s-ranked ninja base merely by another's Chakra.

He blinked at her, surprisingly he didn't leave immediately, his eyes were on her shaking hand and the beads of sweat on her forehead.

"Uhh… you all right, hm?" He asked in a somewhat pained voice.

She paused, realising that, at this precise moment, her need was far greater than his. He would just have to deal with the unfortunately pleasurable sensations.

"Do you mind if you kind of, deal with it for a little longer?" She asked quietly, "If I don't keep healing… the poison will continue to spread from the burn."

Deidara glowered at her, but said nothing.

She shifted sideways on her bed, and then patted the quilt. "Sit." She smirked at his revolted/flustered reaction. "Leave when you're able to not walk like a penguin."

He paused, then grudgingly walked, well, waddled forwards and sat on the opposite edge of the bed, pouting.

She smirked lightly, and placed her hand on her chest, allowing the cooling Medical Chakra to once again seep in. She wondered idly if her Chakra was having this effect on any of the other Akatsuki, causing any of them to waddle painfully about the hallways while trying deliberately to look nonchalant.

The thought of Itachi waddling tore a giggle from her throat, and a rush of Chakra to fly at Deidara.

"Are you doing this deliberately, _hmm_?" Deidara asked severely, which only served to make her laugh more, but this time at how his odd speech pattern seemed to get all the more pronounced when he was angry.

"No." She replied, coughing, "I was just thinking about whether this is having an effect on any of the others."

Deidara looked around at her, his eyes hard, but suddenly they softened into a somewhat daring expression, and a blonde eyebrow cocked as he asked quietly, "Like who?"

Accepting the challenge, she made to mention Itachi or Kisame, but instead what came out was: "Zetsu."

They both blinked with as images of their plant-like colleague came to mind and before either of them knew what had happened, they had burst into fits of laughter.

-

Walking towards his own room, with the intention of checking on Sakura on the way, Itachi stopped when raucous laughter started echoing from her room. It didn't take him long to realise she wasn't laughing alone, and there was other distinct, male laughter that mixed in with hers.

Curious, he walked further forwards and soon realised who the other occupant was.

Deidara.

Being highly tuned into Chakra, his Sharingan registered the pair within, and his eyes widened with shock. Both, not just Sakura, _both_ of them were displaying disturbances in their Chakra flows. Leading Itachi's mind to one, undeniable explanation. His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched.

So _that's_ how it was, was it?

He paused, wondering whether to interrupt their little activities, listening to their somewhat lunatic-like laughter. Sighing, and realising it wasn't worth the effort, he made to walk away, just as the door opened, and a red-faced, giggling Sakura made to leave.

His eyes flicked over her head at Deidara, who appeared to be fully-clothed and still clad in his cloak.

"Ita-chi." Sakura greeted, her voice broken by giggles, his eyes slid momentarily to how low-cut her top was, and he swallowed as fresh, protective anger flooded his system. Yes, protective. Not another form, obviously.

"Sakura." He said quietly, struggling to keep his voice level, "Your Chakra flow is abnormal."

With that, she burst into fresh peals of laughter, along with Deidara. So much so she had to turn away and lean against the wall to keep herself upright.

Itachi's eyes narrowed and he made to walk away again, but he felt a warm hand on his, stopping him from leaving. Irritated when the pull suddenly became alarmingly strong, he turned to chastise her, but instead saw her slumping to the floor.

Immediately forgetting all about leaving, he pulled Sakura towards him. Deidara jerked off the bed as Itachi carried her over.

"Go and get her some water." He said coolly, his tone of voice not allowing for any argument.

He tensed when he realised Deidara hadn't moved. Ok, yes, he had moved, but he was being incredibly slow about it. He looked sideways at him, and watched as he shuffled, then waddled. Itachi's eyes grew narrower the longer he watched.

"… what _are_ you doing?" Itachi asked, his tone nonchalant, though he was quickly losing his temper.

"It's a bit difficult to walk at the minute, yeah."

He was up against the wall before he realised Itachi had moved.

"What did you do to Sakura?" Itachi spat,

"I didn't do anything, yeah! It was what she was doing to-!"

"What did you do?" He repeated,

"I told you I didn't-!" Deidara shoved the Uchiha off him, "Her bleedin' Medical Chakra sent off shockwaves, yeah! It made me get stuck with this!" He pointed to the area below his navel.

Stunned, and without thinking, Itachi stared at the area Deidara had gestured to. With that, Itachi realised exactly _what_ he was looking at and his eyes flicked up again.

"Go get her some water." He said, his voice once again calm, though he was now bearing a horrorstruck expression on his face, which rapidly turned dangerous, warning Deidara to never speak of any of the events again, "Ok?"

Deidara stared at him, thoroughly alarmed, and thankful that Itachi's misguided actions had managed to make him, ahem, _relax _again, he turned and left.

Itachi sat down beside Sakura, one hand wiping her hair away from her sweaty brow. It was only then that his mind ran through what had just happened, and he retracted his hand, frowning, though the frown was oddly soft. He sat down near, not too close to her, his eyes watching her, flicking between soft and annoyed.

_What have you done to me?_

--

Hinata was lying in her hospital bed, staring at the ceiling. Sitting nearby were both Hyuuga Hiashi and Hyuuga Neji. Both of whom were having a heated discussion as to what to do with Naruto. Hiashi, of course was against Naruto, while Neji was pleading his case. Sure, he'd been as pissed as Hiashi-sama when Hinata was brought back with severe Chakra burns, but at the same time, he _knew_ Naruto. It just didn't sit right what the Council were saying about his 'vicious' and 'unruly' demeanor.

Added to that, unlike Hiashi-sama, he hadn't warped Hinata's version of events, added them to Kakashi's, and came up with a reasonable explanation.

Hinata herself was lying silently on the hospital bed, her eyes continously flicking to her arms, eyeing the bandages there. She inwardly flinched as she remembered the hatred in Naruto's eyes. For all that she cared about him, she would _never_ forget that look.

With that, she stood up, leaving both her father and cousin to their discussion.

"Hinata-?" Hiashi started.

"I'm going for a walk, Tou-sama." She said, pausing at the door, "Don't use your Byakugan to watch me, I can look after myself." She looked back at him and smiled reassuringly.

She then left, and walked to the end of the hallway, and out onto the balcony. She leant against the wooden railing there, closing her eyes, feeling the breeze on her face.

"Hinata?" A quiet voice asked.

Her eyes opened, and she looked around, Naruto. She was too tired to be shocked by him being there without her noticing, or the other Hyuuga's noticing for that matter. He was taking a lot of risk just to see her, she knew that much.

"Naruto-kun." She greeted, "W-What brings you here?"

He paused, "I… I wanted to apologise… for what I…" His eyes fell to her bandaged arms, "Do they hurt?"

She blinked at him.

"Of course they do." He sighed, and scratched the back of his head, "Well I uhh… yeah, sorry." He turned away,

"N-Naruto-kun." She said, taking a few steps forward then one step back as he turned around again. She paused, "It wasn't you, it was Kyuubi. T-The seal is decaying."

"I lost control." He said, "Because of Sakura I…" He turned away and leant his arms on the balcony, "I could see nothing else. I was ready to bring her back… no matter who I hurt, or what the cost was. That wasn't the Kyuubi, Hinata. That was me."

Slowly, a small smile formed on Hinata's face.

"Naruto-kun. You're an idiot."

Those three words hit him like an avalanche. He blinked at her, stunned, it took him a few moments to realise why he was so taken aback by her offending him until he realised it was actually the first time she had ever done it. But she was smiling as she said it. Why?

"You think you're a monster because you want to bring your friends back? Because you don't want to be alone again?" She asked, her voice oddly devoid of a stutter, "That's not something a monster would do, Naruto-kun. That's human."

He blinked at her, "Human, huh."

"Y-Yeah. And you're an idiot for thinking otherwise." She smiled again,

"Doesn't change the fact I hurt you."

"Chakra burns. I saw enough to know I-I was let off easy." She said. "Anything else?"

He smirked, "No."

"R-Right." After a few moments of silence, she spoke again, "My turn. I-I wanted to apologise for… what I said."

"What you said?" He asked, his eyes darkening. _Don't do it. Don't take that back._

"What I said about y-your actions hurting me." She said, and Naruto slowly let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "I-It was out of line. After all… you d-don't even know me that well."

"How long, Hinata?" He asked, "For me it came pretty much out of the blue, what you said. How long has it been for you?"

She looked away, blushing. She bowed her head,

"I… I can't say."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Why?"

"You'd hate me."

"Hinata. I couldn't hate you if I tried." He said,

"N-No, honestly, you will hate me." She said. He grasped hold of her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"I won't. I promise."

Her eyes widened briefly, but she bowed her head, her lilac eyes closing. "Do you remember… how you used to train when you thought no-one was watching?"

He stared at her.

"How when everyone else was taken home from the playground… you stayed there by yourself…?" She asked.

His eyes grew wider.

"How people used to… glare at you… when all you wanted was to be a part of them?"

She pulled out of his grip, turning away from him.

"You wouldn't think that one such as me… surrounded by family, heir to the main household… would be able to feel alone but… I could be in a room with all of them… and yet still be the only one… standing there." She said, her expression dark. She turned back to look at him, specifically his eyes, but couldn't help but blush when she realised she had his full, undivided attention. "I-I was… _intrigued _by you, Naruto-kun. The amount of times I wanted to go and talk to you… just s-say 'hello'… and it kills me knowing that would have made all the difference… but I didn't."

She turned fully away from him. "I don't deserve you, Naruto."

After a few moments, a pair of arms curled around her waist, and a chin rested on her shoulder. Unable to stop herself, she sunk back into the warmth of the hug, her hands resting on his arms.

"These past few days, I've had Council meetings, interrogations, told I was the beast-that-hurt-the-Hyuuga-heiress by a lot of Villagers… but there's only one thing I regret." He said softly, he turned her to face him, and gently held her bandaged arms, suddenly, he too was blushing. "And that's scarring the person who loves me the most."

She blinked at him, then bowed her head. "At least you know how I feel."

"At least I know." He agreed. He paused for a few moments, and fidgeted a little. She blinked at him.

"I… I should be getting back then." She said, and made to walk away, but his hand rested on her waist and pulled her back in front of him.

"Hinata I…" He said loudly, then his voice softened again to get her to relax, "I want to know _more_."

She blinked at him, now the colour of beetroot. "Y-Y-You… _more_?"

"Hinata? Hinata-chan?" He asked, sweatdropping as he recognised the telltale signs, but instead of fainting, a sudden, unbidden smile came onto her face,

"Really?"

Relieved, he grinned brightly, "Yeah. Really. So you better hurry up and get better, ok? Cos once your out, I'm taking you for Ramen." He flashed her his biggest grin, and she smiled back.

She turned away, the smile fading. _Not if Tou-sama has anything to do with it._

She made to leave, but stopped when she reached the door, looking back at him.

"Naruto-kun." She said quietly, "Never stop smiling, ok?"

He stared at her. "Huh?"

"Because of what happened… it's rare to see someone close to Sakura smile." She said, and Naruto's expression darkened slightly, "Tsunade-sama is…" She shook her head, "People _need _your smile."

He swallowed, nodding. _Damn it she's good at making me speechless. How come I never noticed this before?_

His eyes dropped, then widened, watching Hinata, and specifically Hinata's chest turn away from him.

_And how come I never noticed THEM before?_

Before he could stop himself he was grinning again.

_Wow. _He paused, then sat down, and looked up at the sky, leaning back against his arms. _Sorry Ero-sennin, Konohamaru… I don't think I'll be perving much anymore. _He smiled and closed his eyes. _I have Hinata._

Soon, Hinata returned to her Hospital Room, now grinning from ear to ear. Both her father and cousin noticed this, and their eyes widened.

"H-Hinata-sama?" Neji asked, "Are you feeling all right?"

"Never been better, nii-chan." She replied, landing on the hospital bed with a bounce. She lay back on the bed. "Got to sleep. Get better."

Both Neji and Hiashi gave each other baffled looks. Not long before she had left looking like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. Could a breath of fresh air really do her that much good?

"Hinata…" Hiashi said quietly, but it appeared she was already asleep. He paused, then moved forwards and sat beside her on the bed. "You really love him, don't you?"

He then stood up again, "Let's go home, Neji."

"Hai." With that, they both left.

--

Sakura's eyes flicked open to see none other than Kakuzu standing above her. It seemed he was healing her. Her eyes closed once again.

_Wait a minute!_

She sat bolt upright, and examined the burns on her breastbone with her hands. She sighed when she realised they were still there but the damage was a hell of a lot less than it had been the last time she'd examined it.

"As a Medic you should know that sitting up that quickly after being unconscious for several hours can play havoc with your system." Kakuzu said quietly.

She merely stared at him, determined to show she was perfectly fine with sitting up, even though she had lost her vision for several moments.

"Stubborn as ever." He sighed,

"You know, you shouldn't harbour such ill will towards us. We are on the same side, after all." Another voice said quietly.

It was then that her eyes scaled the room, which was lit by one torchlight above her, while the rest of the room appeared to be dark. Sitting in the opposite corner was the owner of the other voice. She was unsurprised to find it was Hidan.

"Well, after your uhh… _introduction _when I first arrived here I'm sure you can forgive me for not trusting you." She said, and Hidan smirked.

"Still sore about that? You're worse than your brother." He said, stretching his legs out leisurely, "Let's just say after what Kisame's told us about your incident with the Kyuubi, you're growing on us."

_Heh, so Kisame's been gossiping? He really doesn't seem the type. _Sakura thought, though she showed no emotion on her face.

"Speak for yourself, Hidan." Kakuzu said quietly, "You're a good actress, kunoichi, but I know there's still a Konoha Shinobi under all that front. It'll take a lot more to convince me."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Well I've never been one to trust a guy with five hearts. Got traitor written all over you, don't you think?"

Hidan gave a dull chuckle. "Kisame was right about you being entertaining. You're in the Akatsuki remember? Who here _hasn't_ got traitor written all over them?"

_Damn it. That psychotic bastard's right._ She sighed, now looking for a change of tack, her eyes locked on Kakuzu, "Why did you heal me?"

"Well, when the boss's kid sister passes out and nobody else is of any use medically, I got the short straw." Kakuzu said quietly. "Besides, we have to follow orders."

"But if you wanted me dead you could have-!"

"And Pein would let him live after that? Use your brain, kunoichi." Hidan said quietly, "Judging by the size of your forehead you seem to have a large one."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Why you-!" But stopped and looked away, once again gaining a forceful reminder of Ino. "Right. Thank you."

_I guess that's the trouble with psycho's. They're always really clever. _She sighed, and stood up. _Either that or I'm completely out of my depth. _

_I wonder._

"Where are you going?" Kakuzu asked,

"Getting some fresh air. As a Medic I know that it can sometimes do the world of good." She said and with that, she shut the door behind her.

Hidan sighed. "I kinda feel sorry for the kid."

Kakuzu looked at him, and Hidan continued.

"It's only a matter of time before she understands just what she's got herself into."

Kakuzu shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"No, just an observation." He stood up, "Besides, what can I say? She's easy on the eyes."

"She's also young enough to be-!"

"I know, but I've got to have my kicks, right?"

Kakuzu glared. "Doesn't your 'religion' forbid those sorts of thoughts?"

Hidan straightened up, "My religion is a lot different to others. You'd be foolish to make that assumption. And please… I was _kidding_."

--

Sakura was standing outside, her eyes dark as she took in the sorrowful sight that was Amegakure. To say it was a prosperous town that was strong enough to recover from being a battlefield, like many outsiders believed, was a lie that was both laughable and sickening. Many of the dull grey buildings were old and decrepit and it was wonder how many were standing judging by the vast amount of structural damage. It seemed that they hadn't been repaired, and even though they were unstable, people still inhabited them.

It was a rare occurrence that Sakura actually saw an Amegakure inhabitant, for due to her wearing an Akatsuki cloak gave her a very clear status. She was one of Pein's henchmen, a person to be both feared and respected, never to be spoken to, and never questioned about any of their actions. When the rare event arrived that she saw a citizen, she would sometimes catch them staring at her, or merely glancing at her, and would immediately flee once they realised she had them in sight.

Fear was what ruled in Amegakure. Fear, and the belief that Pein was a God. The idea that the civil war had stopped in Amegakure was also a lie. Every now and then she would witness a fight break out between both believers and atheists, the atheists usually being of the minority and immediately silenced by beating. While witnessing these events, she often wished she could believe that Pein had given the people of Amegakure a better life, that what had come before was far worse, but it often niggled at her exactly _what _could be worse.

If she could only question a local, maybe then, maybe she would get some answers. But… as she knew already, that would be seen as 'treason'.

Already darkness was coming, and she made to head back into their underground base, when she felt an overwhelming bloodlust. She already suspected it was merely one of her 'colleagues' feeling homicidal, she could think of a few, but it wasn't in her nature to ignore it.

Especially when she knew it was directed at _her_.

Already feeling drained due to her persistent injury, she knew if it was someone else she would have to make it quick.

"Who's there?" She asked loudly, "Your blood lust gave you away immediately. Show yourself."

"Such _confidence_. So the little girl did grow up after all."

Her eyes widened. _That voice…_

"Enjoying your kekkai-gengkai? Not sure how Sasuke-kun would react to knowing you joined the very one whom he swore vengeance against."

_No way. _Her fists clenched and unclenched repeatedly, knowing the voice, feeling _that_ bloodlust…

She turned around, and her narrowing eyes fixed on the cloaked figure in front of her. "Orochimaru."

**(A/N) Sorry for leaving a cliffie. But let's just say I wanted to get to another point, but the Sakura/Orochimaru confrontation is a little longer than I thought it would be (two pages, plus there's a bit directly after it that's being a pain), so I thought I wouldn't postpone it any longer, cos I didn't want to piss you all off any longer with the month and a half wait. Errm. Comprende? XD**

**Next Chapter: The Web** (Spoiler: "Now THAT is art, yeah.")


	14. The Web

**(A/N) HEEEEEY! Guess who updated twice in one week! Aiming for forgiveness here kids! Anyway, here comes the beginning of the end… just kidding, the end is a LONG ways off. I guess I could say this is pretty much a halfway point? MEH, I dunno. We'll see what happens, and whether I'm inspired by more fluffity fluff. I don't think we'll be seeing much NaruHina for a few chapters, just to warn you.**

**Thanks to the reviewers, this chapter is for you, because as ever, you work wonders for the muse: **Pandastacia**,** BlackButterfly-RedRose**, **Blood Blossom**, **freakhorrorchick**, **Lady of Dreams and Nightmares**, **ItAsAkU-LoVeR**, **Chibisan1092**, **akatsuki's hikari**, **Mirai No Dinurs**, **shadow miko**, **Passionate Crow Rat**,** Icecream Skittles Addict** and **Tip Of The Top Hat**.**

**Here goes!!**

Orochimaru smirked and a white hand reached up and pulled the cloak back. There she saw his hideously long tongue slide out of his mouth and lick his lips.

"It's been a while, Sakura. Who'd have thought the lovestruck child with pink hair would turn into a Rin'negan user of the Akatsuki." He said, "You really are _full _of surprises."

"I thought you were dead." She said, "How did you survive this time?"

With a smirk, he drew his hand over his face for a moment, revealing Kabuto's face, he drew his hand back up again to once again reveal his own. He was smirking until he realised what in normal circumstances should have shocked anyone, but instead she appeared to be completely unaffected.

"You aren't surprised?" He asked,

"No. Amused, maybe, but not surprised." She replied, her lips twitching. "Looks like Kabuto got his wish in the end. He's finally inside his master."

Orochimaru scowled causing Sakura's lips to broaden into a very triumphant smirk. This conversation _definitely _wasn't going the way he wanted. She kept her eyes on his face and his neck, as she knew, due to his fascination with throwing up his jutsu's, she would be able to witness anything unusual happening with his Chakra and that could give her a headstart in the fight.

If they ever were going to fight, that is. She decided he needed more of a push before he launched his attack.

"What's wrong? Think I'd be scared by your little demonstration, or your… to be honest, pretty _weak _bloodlust?"

"Too confident. You may have the Rin'negan but I can still kill you if I want to."

"What are you after? Finally got over your obsession with the Sharingan? Or are you idiotic enough to try and take on Itachi?" She asked, her teeth gritting as the pain flared in her chest.

Fortunately, Orochimaru didn't seem to notice, but the desperate hunger for power in his eyes seemed all the more pronounced. "Well… if you must know… it would interest me to see which is stronger, Rin'negan or Sharingan… and now there's two of you… it would be much easier to acquire…"

Sakura found herself having to restrain a laugh, "You honestly think you're capable of that? After failing repeatedly to get the Sharingan you've actually gone _up_ a step?"

"Of course. The harder the power is to acquire… the _greater_ the reward." Orochimaru smirked, "Besides it shouldn't be too hard, considering whose Rin'negan I'm after." He eyed Sakura hungrily. She wondered idly how Sasuke had managed to put up with being looked at like a piece of meat for three years. Then again, she supposed he was used to it, considering the fan base he used to have.

"Now who's too confident?" She asked quietly.

"I doubt you have gained sufficient enough power to kill me, even with the Rin'negan. Don't you remember what happened when I faced the Kyuubi brat?"

Orochimaru glared at her for effect. Sakura didn't reply.

"You believe you have gained the power to beat me when the Kyuubi itself could not?" His eyes rested on the burn at her breastbone and he smirked, "When you are injured to the point you have less than effective Chakra control? When you are POISONED?"

He waited once again for a reaction, but Sakura didn't seem even remotely put out. In fact, all she did was shift her position and leaned on her left leg instead of her right. At least that's all he thought she did.

"You think you, after merely a _month_ with that power are strong enough to beat Lord Orochimaru, Snake Sannin?"

_Crack._

Sakura looked down at Orochimaru's stomach, where her Clone's fist had gone straight through his back and out through his stomach, scarlet and glistening.

"Yep." She said coolly.

With that, Orochimaru laughed, first it was low and guttural, then loud and maniacal.

"YOU… DEFEAT ME…?" He once again roared with laughter that echoed through the area, the very same laughter that used to breed terror within her, causing her heart to pound as if it were pounding its last. Now, however, he just sounded insane, pathetically clinging to a power and a dream that he could never have. "You honestly believe _that_ was enough?!"

She smirked. "No. But your laughter was enough to alert every Akatsuki on this base."

He continued to laugh as blood started to roll out of his mouth. Like he didn't care what was about to happen next. Either that or he merely couldn't control it.

"And, you may not have noticed it yet, but your adrenaline rush will soon run out, and you will be paralysed. Try and move, Orochimaru."

He still laughed, though it was a lot quieter than before, his eyes widening as they rested on the blood-red arm protruding out of his waist.

"My Chakra has complete control of your arms and legs. It's a little less effective than it would be, but well, I _was_ poisoned, and that's a Clone."

He chuckled. "You're forgetting one crucial thing. I don't need my arms and legs to capture you."

To his surprise, Sakura's smirk turned into a grin.

"Oh, I think you'll find you do." Her eyes flicked sideways, "Isn't that right, nii-san?"

Orochimaru's eyes widened slightly as Pein appeared around the corner, along with Konan, Hidan, Kakuzu, and a few moments later, Tobi and Deidara. She wondered briefly where Itachi and Kisame were, but didn't mind. Orochimaru was no longer a threat to her.

"Nii-san?" Orochimaru repeated. "You mean that eye jutsu runs in _families_?"

"So you're after my little sister now?" Pein ventured quietly, leaning against the wall leisurely, "You honestly believe her to be that easy to capture?"

"We've met several times before." Sakura said, "I would have died if there weren't other people around to save me."

_Like Naruto… and Sasuke back in the day…_

She became lost in thought for a few moments.

"Ahh yes, I remember." Orochimaru concurred, "The first time we met you needed Sasuke-kun to save you, and the second time you needed the Kyuubi brat. Now you've deserted both of them."

Sakura's eyes locked on his as Inner Sakura snarled, _Bad move._

"Quite the teammate, aren't you?"

_VERY bad move._

"A lot can happen in a few years." She said quietly, managing to keep her tone level, "Sasuke-kun, as you call him, tried to kill me and…" A minute pause followed as she wrestled with herself on whether to call Naruto 'the Kyuubi brat'. It seemed ridiculous to her at that moment, but Inner Sakura raged every time she even considered it. "Naruto several times. And Naruto…" She paused, wondering how to put it, when she realised there really was only one way. She sighed at the sheer irony of it. "My bonds with him have been severed."

"The hell is this? Nostalgia time? Either you kill him, Sakura, or I do." Hidan said loudly.

With that, Orochimaru started laughing again, his eyes wide and maniacal, "You honestly believe that me, one of the Sannin can be tossed aside so easily? I admit… this body is weak, pathetic… Kabuto constantly, _ceaselessly_ trying to fight back against me…" More blood rolled out of his mouth, "Oh Kabuto… what a worthless servant you really were… after my power weren't you… so _brilliant_ yet so flawed…"

Feeling increasingly more alarmed, Sakura couldn't help but stare at him. _He's gone completely nuts._

Suddenly his eyes locked on hers. "I will not be killed by you." He spat, blood flying out of his mouth as he said it, "Sakura Haruno."

Sakura's clone flinched.

"Huh? What's happening?"

"I can't control my Chakra – _what are you doing_?" The Clone asked before disappearing from sight.

Now, at Orochimaru's waist, medical Chakra was seeping in, healing his wound.

With that, he started laughing again. "You're forgetting that Kabuto was a Medic."

_Oh hell no. You're not healing yourself with my Chakra! _Sakura's eyes narrowed angrily as they focused on the Chakra he had apparently stolen from her Clone, and her eyes widened as she watched it suddenly start to grow in intensity.

Orochimaru's laughter stopped abruptly. "What-?"

The Chakra that had come from the Clone was building up uncontrollably, growing and expanding… like a _balloon_. Realising what was about to happen, Sakura covered her face with her arms milliseconds before Orochimaru's body exploded outwards. The rank, tinny stench was what hit her first, bringing back memories that she wished she could forget. She pulled her arms away from her face and looked at the mess she'd created.

She looked sideways at Pein, who, incredibly, appeared to have no blood on him whatsoever. Almost as if he knew what was to come next. He was now eyeing the unidentifiable bloody mess that littered the floor with utter nonchalance.

Slightly perturbed by his lack of reaction, she wondered momentarily if she too would end up looking at pure gore without feeling the slightest bit bothered by it. Realising that a section of Orochimaru had landed on her arm, she quickly threw it away from her, where it landed with a squelch.

"Oh man! That was disgusting! It's gonna take me years to get the blood out of my Cloak!" Tobi said loudly, breaking what had been a rapidly escalating awkward silence.

"Now THAT is art, yeah." Deidara said, utterly awestruck, though a little professional jealousy was starting to cloud his features.

"That isn't art, that is by far the most disgusting thing I've ever witnessed." Kakuzu disagreed, shaking his head, "What the hell possessed you, kunoichi?"

_I did that? _She thought, _I can control my Chakra when its not even connected to me? Is this a power of the Rin'negan?_

Finally looking away from the horrifically mesmerising mess she'd inadvertently created, she glared back at him with an eyebrow cocked, "What the hell possessed you to get five hearts?"

"Having extra hearts is completely different to blowing someone up from the inside!"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Got the job done, didn't it? Didn't know you were so fond of him."

"I wasn't but blowing him up's a bit much."

"Hey!" Deidara protested.

"Whatever. Besides, if he finds a way to still be alive after that, kudos to him, seriously." Sakura said coolly. "I doubt even Hidan could survive that." Her eyes locked dangerously on the silver-haired Akatsuki, when he paled, however, she smirked. "Lucky we're on the same side."

With that, she turned away from them, with the full intention of changing her clothes.

_Two birds, one stone. _She thought.

Once she and the other Akatsuki had disappeared from view, Konan walked forwards to Pein, whose gaze hadn't left what had been Orochimaru. After all, it wasn't every day that someone blew up a Sannin from the inside out with so little effort.

"Pein-san." Konan said quietly.

His eyes flicked to hers. "I know. It's time."

--

_How did I do that? Was it because I was angry?_

Sakura had been standing in the shower for over an hour, her hands taking on their wrinkled appearance, and still didn't feel clean. Gladly, she hadn't seen him explode, but she could still remember the feel of that fresh piece of flesh on her arm, and the sound of each of the pieces hitting various objects and people. Even a section of his bone had flung out like a bullet and scraped her leg…

Getting out the shower for the third time, she rushed over to the toilet and retched, though there was nothing left to come out.

_He deserved it Sakura, get that into your head. He DESERVED it._

Deciding that if she didn't leave the shower completely this time, she never would, she shut off the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. She left the bathroom and went and sat on her bed, her arms folded, staring into space.

_It was quick, anyway. He wouldn't have felt his organs exploding. He wouldn't have felt any of it. He got off lightly. If he'd lived god knows what the others would have done to him. But..._

She started to shake with the shock of exactly what she'd done. Sure, she'd done it before, though that was to Kakashi's clone, when they were training… but something inside her had burned for more blood from the Sannin… something feral…

_For god's sake… get a hold of yourself… he was OROCHIMARU… he did things a hell of a lot worse than that over his lifetime… to thousands of people… thousands of people died and lives were WRECKED because of him…_

_I've killed people for Konoha… why did it seem so right then yet so wrong now?_

She clenched her hair in her hands.

_Knock, knock._

"Sakura?" A muffled voice asked.

She looked up at the door, knowing that Konan was standing behind it.

"Pein-san wants to see you."

"H-Hai." Sakura replied. She stood up, and walked over to the mirror, her eyes locking on her reflection in the mirror.

_The world doesn't just stop, we have to keep moving, keep going towards our goal. No matter how many people die along the way, that's the way of the Shinobi._

She took a deep breath, taking her bloodied, burned, and otherwise completely wrecked clothing, and binned it.

_This is a new start, a turning point. Sometimes deaths are inevitable._

She looked at the clothes that Konan had brought her, and started rooting through them, searching for anything that would go with her new look.

What was she looking for, exactly? What did she want to be?

_A Shinobi of the Akatsuki._

With that, she ditched a bunch of the brighter coloured clothing, some of which she couldn't believe Konan actually owned, let alone give to her. It seemed black was her only option.

She didn't mind. Her hair was enough colour.

She picked up a black top with netting down the sides, then the skirt and short leggings that were of a similar design.

After a few minutes debating, she changed, and pulled on her cloak on top of her new get up, and pulling on her knee-length boots. With that, she looked at herself in the mirror.

_Sakura Haruno. Rin'negan user. S-Class Criminal. Known member of the Akatsuki._

_Killer of Orochimaru._

She sighed. "How things change."

--

Pein was sitting in his office, looking over the Akatsuki paperwork. Though technically the Akatsuki didn't keep records of its members or their unique abilities, it was a secret job of Zetsu's to trail each of the members and take note of their actions during battle. Recently, this 'job' had steadly started leaving out nine of the members, and leave only one to be trailed, and that one was Sakura.

It had been a constant worry for Pein over just how powerful his little sister would get. He already knew that the Rin'negan was stronger when it awakened later, as his came when he was so young, it took years to truly manifest. Sakura's however, had taken a mere _month_.

More or less on arrival, she had been able to perform an exact imitation of Itachi's Tsukuyomi, a doujutsu that was believed to be unique to the Mangekyou Sharingan, simply by instinct. She was able to teleport, a technique that he, Pein, could not perform, not only that, she could also take passengers. She could summon the elements themselves and bend them to her will, rather than using handsigns.

And now… _now…_ she had unwittingly uncovered what was up until then, Pein's secret. She could manipulate her Chakra even when it was drawn away from her. When it was in someone else's body, she could still use it. Though once again she did it through instinct, it was not something that could just be ignored. If she delved into this new power of hers, she would learn that it was a doujutsu linked to the Rin'negan, and that, inevitably would lead her to Pein himself.

She had never seen him in battle, and for good reason. How exactly would he explain to her that he had six, similar looking bodies? No, it was better off letting her believe that the body she had seen so far was her brother. Konan had been brilliant in keeping Sakura's belief in that, and the longer her belief in that remained, the longer she would trust him, and bend to his will.

Other than Sakura's rapidly escalating power, everything so far, was according to plan. To have one Rin'negan user, was to have an army, to have two, his chances of failure were pretty much non-existent. Undeniably, the latter was definitely what he preferred.

He had come too far now, he was so close to his goal. To have Sakura turn against him at any point, which was a possibility if she found out the truth... he would have to silence her opinions once and for all. But where would she go if she did turn against him? He had already taken extreme lengths to make sure she would come, and cement her belief in Konoha being an enemy. Danzou's supposed insanity had been a key factor in that.

Back then, it had been almost too easy. One year before Sakura's Rin'negan awakened, when the Akatsuki started their second phase of Jinchuuriki extractions, he had told Madara about his younger sister, and the fact that there was a possibility that another Rin'negan would awaken. Madara's immediate reaction was to kill her and eliminate the threat, but Pein had better ideas, to bring her over to their side.

However, there was one stark flaw to this plan.

Sakura's loyalty to Konoha.

Almost immediately, Madara had known what to do. He cast a vicious Genjutsu on the Leader of ANBU Root, Danzou, who was already known for being somewhat _rash_ in his decision making, and therefore an almost too-easy target for the Akatsuki. A simple Genjutsu depicting the horrors of the Rin'negan and Pein himself, had been enough to send the old man even more senile and psychotic than he already was and cemented the belief in him that 'one Rin'negan user was bad, yet two defines catastrophic'.

After that, once Sakura's Rin'negan had awakened, everything fell spectacularly into place, and Sakura, distraught and betrayed, threw herself more than willingly into the no-prisoners-taken web of the Akatsuki. Just like they _knew_ she would. Even now, he couldn't get his head round just how _brilliantly_ simple it had all been.

Then again, Madara was known for his skills of manipulation.

_Knock, knock._

He performed the handsigns, and the papers he had in front of him became a collection of mere bank statements and mission reports. He pushed them away, and looked up.

"Come in."

With that, Sakura herself walked in. Pein noted how she held herself, how confident her posture was, and, how her expression softened somewhat when she looked at him. He sighed inwardly.

"Sit."

Without question, she sat.

"You called for me, nii-san?"

"Yeah." He paused, "I trust you are back to full health?"

"Pretty much, I doubt the burn will ever fully heal."

_Not what I asked but ok. _"Right." He paused momentarily, "You may have already noticed that both of your teammates are away from the base at present. They are dealing with an errand in Wind Country, and while they're away, I will be training you how to use that Rin'negan of yours."

Her eyes widened, and Pein once again sighed inwardly, _this is too easy._

"What kind of training?" She asked quietly.

"For now it is your Chakra that we'll be focusing on. You probably noticed with Orochimaru that you could control it when it was away from your body."

She nodded.

"Are you aware that due to your heightened ability to control your Chakra, you should be able to heal that burn with no trouble whatsoever, even though it's in a place you can't see?"

She shook her head.

"By the end of this training, you should be able to heal without you even having to think about it." He said, then added quietly, "But you have to follow my orders."

"Hai, nii-san."

"Wait for me in the training grounds, I'll join you soon. That is all."

"Hai."

She left again, and slowly, a smirk formed on Pein's face.

**(A/N) Bet ya didn't see THAT coming :P Doesn't everything look different from Pein's perspective? Last chapter signalled the end of the fluff for a while. And before you say anything, the story IS called 'Truth and Lies' :P Review... please? **

**Next Chapter: Truth that Burns **(Spoiler: Return of Itachi and Kisame :D)


	15. Truth that Burns

**(A/N) ONE-HUNDRED-AND-EIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHTY! … six ;) After this nice long chapter I'm pretty sure you'll want me to do a rush-update as well, yup, it's gonna have a cliffie. And a BIG one at that.**

**Thanks to the ever AWESOME reviewers:** randigirl, Mirai No Dinurs, Passionate Crow Rat, BlackButterfly-RedRose, Pandastacia, EverMindTheRuleOfThree, Blood Blossom, shadow miko, Icecream Skittles Addict, crzyaznroxursox, Cster, Foenixfyre, Ozeki, Florida Alicat, BloodxMoonxNightmare **and **Mitsuki Sakura Uchiha**.**

**Right, I'm not gonna lie to you. This chapter was an ARSE to write. Yes, an ARSE. I think you'll see what I mean when you read it :D**

**Anyway, enough of me. Enjoy :D**

Pein was sitting at his usual perch on the side of the tallest building, his eyes fixed on the pink haired kunoichi sitting on the soaked ground below. He had been teaching her for just over an hour, and it seemed that she had finally succumbed into a deep meditation.

"Sakura?" He asked, and when she didn't answer, he dropped down to the ground next to her, and surveyed her Chakra levels.

He stared at her, dumbfounded, one of the first times he had been shocked by her. She had actually done it. She had actually gone and sunk into a deep meditation in the middle of an S-ranked criminal base.

Was she really that trusting?

He sighed.

"That took longer than expected." A voice said from behind him.

He looked around and saw Konan standing there, her eyes on Sakura, who as expected, hadn't moved.

"You've been watching the whole time?" He asked,

"I have my reasons." She replied quietly, then her eyes visibly darkened. "He's here."

Pein's eyebrows rose. "Perfect timing. Where?"

"Near the entrance. Pein-sama…"

He nodded. "Go."

She disappeared from view, and Pein's eyes went to the motionless Sakura, and he paused momentarily, halfway between moving her and leaving her there. He shook himself out of it, and left, leaving Sakura alone in the street.

--

It wasn't long before Konan found Jiraiya, his Chakra being so strong and so reminiscent of when she was a child and she gazed at him with awe. Now so much had changed, and she had to end him, for the sake of Pein's goals.

She used her origami jutsu to forcibly remove his disguise, and landed not far above him, intending to distract him, just until Pein got there. She was under no illusions as to who was stronger out of her and Jiraiya, and she had no intention of dying any time soon. Not until Pein was happy, at least.

She watched detachedly as her origami clone was burnt, then her eyes focused on Jiraiya.

"It's been a long time, Jiraiya-sensei."

Jiraiya stared up at the young woman who had appeared above him, and he sighed in resignation. Somehow, he had always known it would come to this.

He remembered her as a young child, a child with the brightest smile even in the midst of a war that had caused her and her friends so much heartache. Now, there she stood, dressed as an Akatsuki, glaring at him with no feeling in her eyes.

It was alarming to see how much she had changed. Instead of the seeping warmth he remembered, there was something so cold about her, something that blared with rage and pain. Whether it had come with age, or that something had happened to make her become so dark, he had no idea.

"I cast the bait hoping to end up with Pein… who'd have thought I'd end up with you. Konan… you've improved your jutsu… and grown into one hell of a woman."

She cocked an eyebrow. _Still the same, after all these years._

"I always thought you were dead… but instead you have become a member of the Akatsuki. Maybe you can tell me a little about Pein."

"That won't be necessary." She said quietly, and he watched her slowly rise into the air, paper gathering around her, eventually forming wings.

"An Angel, huh?" He asked quietly, then asked sardonically, "A Messenger of God?"

"I must kill you." She said simply, "God's will is law."

With no trouble at all he used his toad oil blast to seal her origami, and wrapped his lengthened hair around her, keeping her from movement.

"I already knew that Nagato was alive, but Yahiko's alive too?"

Konan didn't answer, her eyes dark.

"I knew it." He said, "Where are they? And where is Sakura?"

"My little sister is not of your concern." A voice said coolly.

Jiraiya looked up, and his eyes widened at the Akatsuki perched on top of the building, like a predator leering down at its prey. The unfeeling Rin'negan eyes were prominent even from a distance, and his expression was just as emotionless as Konan's, if not more so.

"Nagato. So you really are Pein."

"Come to take her again? Like you did last time?" He asked quietly. The calmness with which he said it unnerved Jiraiya. He remembered what had happened, and in a sense he felt partially responsible for Nagato's decline into madness.

His eyes darkened as he remembered it.

"Well, Sensei? Come to steal my sister from me?"

--

_Sixteen Years Earlier…_

"_It doesn't matter where we go in Amegakure… it's always the same. What a mess." Jiraiya said quietly, leaning further back on the chair, his hands behind his head._

_He, Orochimaru and Tsunade were sitting in the shelter of a hut as the rain barrelled down, taking a well-earned rest._

"_If this war wasn't going on, this country wouldn't be half as-!"_

"'_Scuse me!"_

_All three of them looked around, and their eyes focused on a small boy with spiky hair standing in front of them with his arms outstretched._

_Pure fear laced his expression as his eyes continually flicked up to their headbands. "C-Can I have some please?"_

_Jiraiya's eyes flicked back to his crackers, which he had been looking forward to eating._

"_Where are your parents?" He asked._

_The boy's eyes immediately darkened. "They got killed in the war."_

Oh boy. Emotional blackmail. Gets me every time. _Jiraiya thought._

"_Here… have some crackers."_

_The boy brightened up immediately, "Hey Nagato! Konan! Come out! He's not a bad guy!"_

_Two other children followed him, the long-fringed boy, Nagato, walking much slower than the bright-eyed girl, Konan, who immediately rushed forwards and took a cracker, evidently starving._

_She then handed the last one to Nagato, and took the wrapper, looking thoughtful._

_After a few more moments of them standing there while the three Sannin continued to rest, Tsunade asked,_

"_We've given you food, what do you want now?"_

"_Uhh… you're leaf ninja right?" The spikey haired boy said, "Teach us ninjutsu! Please."_

This is getting WAY out of hand…_ Jiraiya thought. _First he wants food, now he wants us to teach him Ninjutsu?

_He eyed each of them thoughtfully, then he turned to the boy who appeared to be the spokesperson for the group. "What's your name, kid?"_

"_Yahiko. You gonna teach us Ninjutsu?"_

_Jiraiya looked at Tsunade and Orochimaru. Tsunade was wearing a look that clearly said 'oh, brother' while Orochimaru was eyeing the children with contempt._

_Moments later, the girl moved forwards to Jiraiya, and held out what appeared to be a flower made out of the cracker wrapper._

"_Thanks for the food." She gave him a bright smile, surprising Jiraiya a little. "This is for-!"_

_Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a wailing sound coming from where the dark-haired boy with the long fringe was standing. The other two looked sideways at him, and he shifted uncomfortably, giving the Sannin wary glances._

"_She hasn't eaten in a while, Nagato-kun." Konan said, while the louder boy hissed 'sssh' at her. 'Nagato' didn't answer, though he too seemed to be a little annoyed at her for drawing attention to the wailing noise._

"_There's a baby with you?" Tsunade asked, her eyes wide. She took a few steps forwards, "May I?"_

_Nagato moved so he was side-on to Tsunade, revealing the baby he was carrying in a sling._

"_Do you mind if I look her over? I'm a Medic." She said._

"_Why don't we just kill them and be done with it?" Orochimaru said abruptly, finally breaking his icy glare at the children. "All these kids orphaned by the war have nothing but pain and suffering waiting for them. It'd be much more merciful to kill them now."_

_Nagato immediately backed away, his already shaky trust in them removed with one sentence, while Yahiko looked furious and Konan looked terrified._

"_Are you off your god damned rocker Orochimaru?" Jiraiya snapped. "Look, you two go on ahead, I'll take care of them for a while."_

"_What?" Tsunade gasped,_

"_Just until they can fend for themselves. It's the least we can do."_

"_Fine, but not until I've checked over the infant." She said, she looked at Nagato, "It's all right, you can trust me."_

"_Best Medic-nin there is." Jiraiya concurred._

"_I'm going on ahead." Orochimaru muttered, and walked away from them._

_Jiraiya glared at his retreating back, then sighed. "Always the same."_

_Looking less wary now Orochimaru was gone, Konan moved over to Nagato and held the baby as he undid the sling._

_With that, they nervously handed her over to Tsunade._

_The first thing that struck Tsunade was the mop of pale pink hair, followed by her big, sad green eyes._

"_What's her name?" She asked quietly,_

"_Sakura." Nagato replied._

--

_BOOM._

Sakura snapped out of her meditation, her eyes wide as she heard the explosions. She looked around, her eyes wide,

"What the hell?"

She blinked as a low rumble grew louder, and a cloud of debris broke from one of the larger buildings in front of her.

Her eyes widened.

_An invasion?_

Moments later, she saw what appeared to be a much smaller summon leaping away from what looked like a giant ten-headed dog.

_What… is THAT…?_

She stood up, then looked around.

"Nii-san?"

It appeared she was alone, it was pretty obvious that he had left her to it, almost as if he had believed an invasion not with waking her up for. It didn't enter her mind the fact that the meditation was simply a distraction, and all was not going to plan since she had woken and he hadn't finished off the intruder yet.

Her eyes focused on the ten-headed dog, and she started running towards it, her head spinning with different jutsu's and element mixes that she could use against it… them… whatever. She would protect Amegakure, she would protect her home and her brother.

She launched herself up onto the nearest still-standing building and hung on with her Chakra, crouching as she watched the battle. Still she couldn't make out what the other, smaller summon was, but she knew that the hellhounds were doing their best to have it for breakfast. She clapped her hands together, ready to attack.

"Sakura."

She started and looked around to see Konan standing below.

"Konan!" She gasped.

Konan gazed up at Sakura, her eyes dark, still tired from her earlier encounter with Jiraiya. _Looks like I got here just in time. _Behind Sakura she could see Pein's hellhounds chasing Jiraiya's large toad summon, growing larger and more intense as they did.

Sakura leapt down and landed beside her, her eyes wide. "What the hell's going on? Where's nii-san?"

"Fighting the intruder, naturally."

"That thing with the ten heads?"

Konan blinked, then looked at the hellhounds, and sighed, realising why Sakura would immediately think the hellhounds were the threat. She was used to being on the losing side after all. She sighed. "No. That's not the intruder."

Sakura stared at her. "Fine, the intruders summon then."

"That's _Pein-sama_'s summon, Sakura." Konan said quietly.

It was Sakura's turn to blink. "What?"

_CRUNCH._

She looked around to see that one of the dogs heads had fallen and landed on the ground next to her. Her eyes locked on it's, and found that it had the Rin'negan eyes.

It was indeed Pein's summon.

_Then why_… _why does it…_

_Why does it feel so _evil_?_

It poofed out of existence, soon followed by the colossus itself. Her eyes then focused on the smaller invader, which was still too far away for her to see.

Whoever they were, it was certainly a case of David versus Goliath. It stumped her when she realised she was actually on the side of Goliath.

The wrong side.

"Sakura."

Her eyes widened as yet another summon took the hellhounds place, an enormous creature with the head of a bull and the body of a lion.

A Chimera.

A sin against nature. First hellhounds… now something that definitely shouldn't exist…

"Sakura." Konan repeated.

She looked at Konan, dazed by the implications of exactly what she was witnessing,

"Pein can handle it, it's in your best interests not to get involved in this battle."

"Best interests?" Sakura repeated.

_BOOM. _It seemed the Chimera had rammed its way into the wall of a large building, which soon collapsed. But Sakura's wonder was now fading into suspicion, and a strange prickling awareness of the intruder's Chakra.

Whoever it was, she'd met them before. She wasn't sure exactly who it was, but it was a Leaf Ninja.

"_My_ best interests?" She asked again, her eyes dark. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Konan visibly swallowed. "Pein-sama can handle it, you would only get in the way."

Sakura's suspicion rose. "Who's he fighting?"

"Sakura. Trust me, you don't-!"

Realising she wasn't going to get any answers, she started to run through the crumbling streets towards the battle. Her heart was pounding now. She didn't know why, but she had to see who it was. She had to know.

Shortly after running towards the battle however, they hit what Sakura could see was a Genjutsu. Immediately dispelling it before it took its true effects, she looked back at Konan, who appeared to be lost in it. She paused for a moment, wondering whether to release her from it, like a comrade should, but she knew if she did Konan would continue to try and stop her.

"Sorry." She murmured, then continued pursuing the intruder's Chakra.

After what felt like ten minutes chasing, whilst gradually becoming more irritated, she readied herself for teleportation.

Was it out of vague curiosity? Or was it a suspicious streak that told her that as Konan was so adamant about her not going anywhere near the battle, it was someone she knew?

_Why is my heart pounding like this? It's not like I'm concerned… I just…_

_What if it's Naruto?_

The summon leaping away looked suspiciously frog-like. What if Naruto had been idiotic enough to actually try and take her from the Akatsuki base by himself? It seemed perfectly feasible, being exactly something he would do… he'd thrown himself into the lion's den countless times when they had searched for Sasuke…

_Oh God. What if it IS Naruto?_

She built up her Chakra in her legs, allowing her to run faster.

_I don't know what I'll do when I get there… but you're a Leaf Ninja who uses summons that look like frogs…_

_You might not be him but…_

_I have to know._

_I have to._

--

"Well, that was pointless." Kisame sighed for the third time that day.

Itachi himself was staring up at the clouded sky, "A storm is coming."

"You say that every time we enter Rain Country. A storm's always coming." Kisame grumbled.

Itachi's eyes flicked sideways towards him. "And every time, there is a storm."

Kisame sighed. "Right, right." He sat down on a nearby rock, looking back at the corpse he kept hanging on his Samehada. "A bounty mission for someone only worth five million ryou. Why send both of us? He wasn't even worth the effort."

"It's obvious." Itachi said, "There's something Pein doesn't want us to be around for."

"Sakura?" Kisame asked.

"He's getting more unsettled due to her emotional outbursts." Itachi replied, "I think hearing her laugh hysterically was the last straw."

"Either that or her hitting him." Kisame chuckled. "She's quite the entertainment. What do you think he'll do to her?"

Itachi looked away. Honestly, he'd been thinking exactly the same thing for the entirety of the mission. He'd only engaged in talking to Kisame to try and distract himself from the fact he was worried about her.

"Maybe he'll make her one of his Paths." Kisame said lazily, he looked at Itachi, who was staring at him, "You know, one of his six bodies. I'm sure with her having a Rin'negan of her own she'd be an amazing slave."

"You deliver the bounty." Itachi said suddenly, "I'm going."

With that, he fled into the trees.

Kisame stared after him. "I hope for her sake you get there on time." He looked back at the corpse on his sword and sighed. "Looks like it's you and me. Still can't believe I can't disfigure you in any way, that just takes the fun out of it, isn't that right, Samehada?"

He stood up and walked away.

Itachi however was running as fast as his legs could carry him, his eyes still wide at the possibility of what Kisame had said was true.

No, he couldn't let that happen. Not to her.

His eyes softened as he remembered brief moments, where she would look at him, eyes utterly devoid of fear, and he could forget everything.

_No one else knows, only me._

_Of course, couldn't you tell by my 'hah'?_

_Itachi!_

He shook himself out of it, and continued to speed towards her, eyes full of unbridled determination.

_I'm coming, Sakura._

--

Jiraiya blinked up at Pein, his eyes slowly sliding in and out of focus due to the large amount of blood loss from his arm.

_Six Rin'negan users… plus Sakura, making it seven._

_How is this possible?_

Moments later, the fat Pein looked away from him, and all their eyes widened as they watched a circle of Sakura petals forming.

Jiraiya looked too, but he had a sneaking suspicion he knew who it was. Surely enough, she soon appeared. He couldn't help but find it disturbing that she actually suited the Akatsuki Cloak, which was buttoned down to her belly then flared out around her legs.

"There are SEVEN people with the Rin'negan?!" Fukasaku gasped, his eyes focused on Sakura.

"Yes. But she's different." Jiraiya said quietly, "She's not one of them."

Sakura's eyes flicked up to the six paths of Pain now, three of which were looking at Sakura, and the other three kept their eyes on Jiraiya.

He watched as her eyes flickered, then widened with pure confusion.

"What? Wh…?" She continued to blink up at Pein, struggling to work it out. Then, something clicked, much quicker than it had for him, he couldn't help but note.

Slowly, her confusion caved into shock. It seemed that she was as shocked as Jiraiya was, if not more so. Her eyes were wide with something other than shock as well. Something darker.

Finally, she turned to look at Jiraiya.

"Why are you here?" She asked, her eyes still wide. Apparently the sight of six Rin'negan users was far too much for her to take in, so she'd switched from shock and dived headlong into denial. "Why have you come after my brother?"

"You think that is your brother, kid? Which one?"

She looked back at Pein, who as ever, appeared emotionless, but Sakura's eyes were a myriad. That seemed to prove to the old toads sitting on Jiraiya's shoulders that she definitely was not one of them.

"You didn't answer my question, Jiraiya. Why are you here?" She asked dangerously.

_Uh oh, anger. _"I merely came to gather information on the Akatsuki Leader."

She glowered at his toadlike form and fighting stance. "You call _that_ gathering information?"

"Even though you're in the Akatsuki, you still remind me of a young Tsunade." He said quietly, his voice sad.

"It seems she should have come too, then it would be a real reunion." The long-haired Pein snapped. "Enough talk."

Sakura blinked back at Pein, now shifting her anger to him instead, "No. We haven't even _started_ talking."

Pein's eyes narrowed. "You would defy me, Sakura?"

"Don't try using that god-complex on me because it won't work all right?!" She asked, her voice shaking, "You may have been able to persuade Konan but I'm your sister…" She looked at each of his forms, and her face crumpled in pain for a moment, "_Aren't _I?"

Pein blinked.

"He… he _isn't _your brother. Not anymore."

Everything seemed to suddenly become abnormally quiet, and the hard pounding of Sakura's heart made its way into her throat as she stared numbly at Jiraiya.

"Wh… _what_?"

"I trained Nagato when he was younger."

"You're lying. You're only saying that to get me on your side." Sakura said, her eyes wide as they focused blurrily on Jiraiya, "Tell me you're lying!" She looked up at Pein, panic racing through her, "Tell me he's lying!"

"It's true… I am… gladly… not the same as I once was… but I am still your brother, Sakura. The fact I have ascended to a new level means you should be more than grateful to have me as a family member."

She let out a sound halfway between a laugh and a choked sob, "_Grateful_?!" She gasped, her eyes wide, "Grateful that you've gone completely _nuts_?!" She gestured to his bodies, "Look at you! You've got six _bodies _for god's sake!" Her voice grew choked as it all started to sink in, "And who _were_ they, Pein? Which one of you was my brother…"

"One of them is Yahiko. A childhood friend of Nagato-!"

"Oh you can _shut up_!" She shouted, her eyes fixing on Jiraiya, whose eyes widened as he thought, _bad move, Jiraiya. Bad move._ "One minute you tell me he's my brother, the next, he's not! Well which one is it, Jiraiya?!"

He sighed, "You need to answer that on your own. Trust your own judgement."

She blinked at him, then stared at Pein, where she realised one of them had disappeared.

"You must have seen his summons before. Summons that technically shouldn't-!"

_Whoosh._

"Jiraiya-chan!"

She whirled around to look at Jiraiya, to see him with a spear through his throat.

_What?_

She watched, frozen in place as the other Pein's joined the one standing there, each plunging a spear into him, causing a loud, echoing squelch and a loud grunt of pain from Jiraiya each time.

The world seemed to slow down as Sakura's eyes rested on the emotionless faces of her… of Pein. Her eyes watched his emotionless ones, as she continued to feel increasingly numb.

It all happened too quick and too suddenly for her to register it properly. Too much poisonous information was swirling through her, threatening to paralyse her completely. All she wanted to do was to curl up in a ball inside herself, and never come back out again… when something forced her heart to pound again.

_Jiraiya-sama… what am I doing?_

_I must stop him… this is… I have to stop Pein!_

_But he's my brother…_

_He's…_

_No he's not… look at him… _look at his eyes_…_

She forced herself to focus, and her eyes rested on his emotionless ones as they glared down at Jiraiya, who was watching her, blood dribbling out of his mouth like a fountain.

Her eyes rested on Pein once again.

_He's right… he's not human… he can't be…_

_He's watching a man bleed to death by his own hands…_

_A man that he remembers from childhood as his sensei…_

_A man who had looked after him when he could have easily just left him to die…_

Memories flooded her mind of the hellhounds, and the Chimera… of Pein's six, similar looking bodies.

"Jiraiya-sama!" She yelled out, not knowing what else to do or say, and knowing that her answers, and everything that came before Pein was Pein, back when he was Nagato, was about to leave the world for good.

She rushed forwards, but Pein stopped her with one of the spears.

Jiraiya stared at her, after a few moments, his knees buckled and he twisted to the floor, taking the frogs down with him. His eyes darkened, but he continued to blink, even from several yards away, she could still see the light start to leave his eyes.

"_No_." She murmured, her eyes wide, then she grabbed the spear and flung it backwards into that Pein's stomach, winding him, followed by a kick as he was thrown away from them.

She glared at the other Pein's, shaking with grief.

"You don't have to finish him off… let me ease his pain… _please_…" She said, her voice oddly dull and monotonous.

Pein stared back at her, while Jiraiya and the other frogs stared up at her from their position on the floor.

"Jiraiya-chan. What's going on?"

--

_The baby in Tsunade's arms gurgled, and gave a wide gummy smile as she recognised Nagato. The long-fringed boy grinned too, watching as she shoved one chubby fist in her mouth._

"_Overall, she's very healthy, however, having her here in these conditions, where there is little food, and war still rages…"_

_Nagato nodded, his smile fading. "She's all I have left. She… she saves me from myself, when I think there's no hope… she smiles as if she knows…"_

_Tsunade smiled, then handed her back to him._

_Jiraiya was standing nearby, his eyes soft as he gazed at the young brother and sister. Nagato had made his way back to Yahiko and Konan, who immediately huddled round the two._

_Tsunade walked over to Jiraiya, her eyes dark. She folded her arms against her enormous chest, her head bowed in thought._

"_It'll be hard to break it to him… but if she stays with them she will die, either by starvation or disease." She said quietly._

"_What do you suppose we do? Take her back to Konoha?" He asked._

"_If needs be, yes. She is still young enough to be able to find a replacement mother… and after what happened with the Kyuubi… there are plenty of mothers needing something to cope with the loss of their children and other family members."_

_Jiraiya sighed as he stared at the children, specifically the long-fringed boy, who was smiling._

--

Jiraiya blinked up at the pair, saddened by his memories, but also hopeful.

_She saves me from myself._

He looked at Pein, who showed no outward sign of inner turmoil at facing off against his little sister, but if the old Nagato was in there, somewhere, there was hope.

"So you're audacious enough to attack your own brother. Maybe spending time with Itachi really wasn't so good for you after all."

"Itachi has nothing to do with this." She said brokenly, "You've been lying to me from day one. Explain to me just _what_ that has to do with me spending time with Itachi."

"I take no betrayal of any kind, Sakura, if you continue to try and protect Jiraiya I _will _kill you."

_There_. Jiraiya thought. A very slight quavering in Pein's voice, that was all, but it was enough. _So you really are still alive, Nagato._

She glared back at him, "What you're doing… is wrong." She said, "You may have good intentions but… you don't care who you hurt along the way… I guess that also extends to your own family, huh?"

"I am not ruled by emotions." He said, "I have ascended to a new level of consciousness. The fact that you can't is something that has constantly bothered me."

She glared at him, then shook her head.

"What's _wrong_ with you?"

"It's you that has the problem Sakura. What you refuse to see, refuse to believe, refuse to feel. This world is a mess, the only way one can ascend is to feel the agony of life, then conquer it."

She blinked at him, shaking her head, a sad smile lighting her features, "I don't believe what I'm hearing. You really are completely _insane_."

"Then you would turn against me? Such a shame. I had such high hopes for you, but it seems Konoha was not the right place to have you grow up after all."

"What? Because I don't have a god-complex?" She asked, "Pein – I don't want to fight you – I just want you to listen to me-!"

"I've had enough of talking. The only words you will hear now are through the sounds of battle. Learn from me, learn what you've lost, what you could have become, little sister."

Her eyes widened as one of the Pein's sped towards her.

**(A/N) BOOM. Abrupt, killer ending. See what I mean? Require an update? Review!**

**Next Chapter: Judgement **(Spoiler: "Stay out of it, Konan.")


	16. Judgement

**(A/N) I apologise for that ever so nasty cliffie last chappie. That was the height of harsh. After numerous author attacks by broccoli monsters, tears, bitch fits, death threats and reader-deaths-caused-by-waiting… I've got round to uploading this chapter :D**

**I've said it before, I'll say it again. Reviewers! I love you! Thanks for breaking the 200 milestone! It means a lot! Cookies to all of you!: **Ozeki, EverMindTheRuleOfThree, knightchaser, BlackButterfly-RedRose, Black Fire Blossom, Jackie-chan1230, Tip Of The Top Hat, Silent Sinner Abella, Mirai No Dinurs, shadow miko, fairy246, lovematters, Passionate Crow Rat, Mitsuki Sakura Uchiha, BloodxMoonxNightmare, saiyukifan526 **and **yuki san1**.**

**Enjoy XD**

Jiraiya lunged out, and pulled Sakura to the floor just as the spear-wielding Pein appeared where she was moments before.

Sakura blinked at him, and even through his pain he gave her a small smile.

'Thank you.' She mouthed, then did a wheel kick from her spot on the ground, dislodging three of the Pein's. She dodged the other three, who had removed their spears from Jiraiya and had now moved on to Sakura.

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to use one of your Chimera's on me?" She asked, he sarcasm rising with every syllable, evidently upset, "Or maybe some Genjutsu? No wait, why don't you _all_ use your powers on me? See if you'll be happy then!"

Pein glared at her, "You went against God, now you must face Judgement."

"What? So this is Purgatory is it?" She asked. Her voice and words were careless, but her eyes betrayed how broken she was by the revelations, and every attack he gave seemed to do nothing but deepen the darkness in her eyes. Finally, one of the spears grazed her arm, and she glared at him. "This is kinda sick for training, _nii-san_."

The longhaired Pein glowered at her, then his eyes widened as a spear was plunged into him from behind, out of view from the other Pein's, who were all focusing on Sakura.

After a few moments, he dropped to the floor, and Jiraiya was revealed, holding the spear.

Knowing, no, _feeling _what was about to happen, Sakura dived, and placed her hands on Jiraiya, her instincts setting her Chakra to work. A split-second later, he vanished in a wave of Sakura petals, and Sakura found herself surrounded.

"So you really have betrayed me, little sister." He said, Sakura looked sideways to see Konan finally rushing onto the scene, having managed to break out of the toad's Genjutsu now that they and Jiraiya were gone. "You will pay for this."

Sakura made to move, when she felt a sudden draining feeling inside her, as if her stomach was being sucked down a plughole.

"Wha…?" She looked up at the Pein she was most accustomed to, the one that spoke most often, who was forming a new handsign she had never seen before.

He put his hands up to his face, and Sakura screamed.

--

At Konoha's gates, sitting with their feet up on the desk, were Izumo and Kotetsu.

"Boy, it's been a long day." Kotetsu said, shifting the bandage he kept constantly across his nose to scratch his face underneath.

"You said it." Izumo agreed, "You'd think we'd have a lot more work to do, with Akatsuki up and about again…"

"But nope… we're stuck at the gate. Again."

They both sighed in unison, and Izumo sat forwards, leaning on his arms on the desk.

"Wake me up, Izumo, when something interesting happens." Kotetsu sighed, putting his hands behind his head.

After a few moments, a Sakura petal landed directly in front of them, followed swiftly by another.

"Huh?" He murmured aloud.

"What is it?"

"Sakura petals. There's no Sakura trees around here, are there?"

After a few moments, yet more Sakura petals appeared, so much that Izumo couldn't ignore them if they tried, especially as Chakra that he recognised was starting to form too, along with the smell of blood.

"What the hell?" He asked.

"Relax, Izumo, it's just a few wayward petals. Jeesh, you must really be bored-!"

"Just look, dammit!"

Kotetsu sat up, and his eyes widened, watching the whirlwind of petals form, and after a few moments, a man they both knew well landed on the ground in front of them, gravely injured.

"Jiraiya-sama!"

--

Sakura managed to restrain the overwhelming urge to scream as she continued to feel agonizing pain in her eyes, pain that she hadn't felt since the Rin'negan had awakened. Instead she hissed and slapped her hand over them, blocking out the light, and she felt a hot and viscous substance leak onto it.

She squinted, blinking at her now glistening red hand, and horrifically, she was forcefully reminded of Mrs Haruno.

She looked up at Pein, whose hands were still in that same handsign.

_Nii-san…_

She winced horribly as she felt another wave of pain course through her, stemming from her eyes.

Konan was staring at the horrific scene before her, eyes wide. _He's using… THAT… jutsu?_ She blinked at him. _You… really want to kill her…_

_No… no, I don't believe that!_

"Pein-sama!" She shouted, causing him to look sideways at her, "Don't use that jutsu on her! She's your sister! If you take that-!"

"Stay out of it, Konan." Pein said quietly, "This is between us."

Sakura gave a cry of pain and slid to the floor as the other 'Paths of Pain' started forming their own handsigns.

Konan stared at Sakura, whose appearance had already begun to change, her hair was flicking between her usual pale pink to the bright orange of Pein.

"You're killing her!" She shouted, "Stop it!"

Sakura blinked up at Pein as more blood streamed from her eyes.

_Come on… do something…!_ She begged herself, her arms struggling to move. Her Chakra felt like it was being pulled away from her, being shared among Pein's group. _No… I can't die like this… no way…_

She couldn't help but be reminded of the many times before she had gained her Rin'negan, the paralysing fear she had felt as she knew, if she wasn't saved, she was going to die.

And she was powerless to stop it from happening.

Her eyes managed to focus on him.

"Why… _why _are you-?" She asked, her voice being the only part of her body that would obey her.

He stared at her, "You will be of use to me when your treacherous emotions are kept behind bars."

Sakura blinked at him.

_Of use._

Those words had only just been uttered and already they had started to haunt her.

_Of use to him._

She looked at Konan, who was staring between her and Pein with a horrified look on her face. Suddenly, she found herself thinking of Itachi.

_What a person to think of at a time like this…_ She thought. _Maybe I really am dying._

She blinked at the image of him in her mind, now finding herself starting to hallucinate. He had become the person who had taken her under his wing. Not as obvious as Konan was, but she was grateful all the same.

For some reason, Itachi was the person she felt most comfortable with. Something about him just gave it to her in waves. Was it the fact he was the most calm and collected out of all of them? She didn't know.

She reached her bloody hand towards the image of him.

"Help… me." She murmured, "_Please_."

Seeing her do that to her, Konan found herself rushing forwards to Pein. Something about the situation disturbed her greatly. And it took a _lot_ to disturb Konan. Sure, she'd seen Pein do really terrible things, tortured and killed people… but this… _this_…

Pein was killing his own sister, forcing her to bend to his will, forcing her into slavery. Or… due to the fact none of the other Paths of Pein originally had a Rin'negan… was she going to be something more than that?

Queen of the Slaves?

Konan knew that Pein was wrong in this decision, and she was going to stop him, no matter what.

"That's enough!" Konan said, stepping in front of him and breaking his handsign, "She's your sister!"

He glared at her. "She has become a problem. It is not required of an Akatsuki member to have feelings for the villages they have deserted. She's the reason Jiraiya-sensei got away."

"And she's been punished for it!" Konan said, "Look at her."

They both looked around, to see Sakura disappear in a rush of petals.

Pein's eyes locked on Konan. "Find her."

--

Sakura stumbled through the trees outside Amegakure, still struggling to regain the use of her arms and legs, all of which had become a dead weight. She had used enough Chakra to escape from Amegakure, but not enough to get a safe distance away. Pein, and the teleportation she used to save Jiraiya's life had drained the majority of it…

_What am I doing…? _She thought blankly, _Am I going back to Konoha? Will they welcome me back?_

_Who am I now… I'm not Medic-nin Sakura… I'm not Akatsuki Sakura… then… who am I?_

"Sakura?"

Startled, she looked up to see Itachi standing just ahead of her.

He blinked back at her, he couldn't help but be shocked by her appearance, her blood-stained paper-white face, and her eyes…

_Her eyes…_

After a few moments, she made to run from him, but he was too fast. The shock seemed to take her strength out of her, and she slid forwards. Without thinking, or even knowing what he was doing, he lunged forwards and caught her.

Her face leant against his chest as she struggled to remain conscious.

Itachi merely watched the top of her head. He didn't understand why he had caught her. He didn't understand why he had sought her out without an order to do so.

No… he understood all right. He just didn't know why or how she had done this to him.

These emotions died when he killed his family, to have them revived after so long was both disturbing and more than a little worrying.

There was that word again, _worry_. Uchiha Itachi didn't worry, he couldn't care less. He had kept up that act for a very long time, the act that had allowed him to go against every instinct and emotion he possessed and force Sasuke into the obsessive, arrogant state of mind he was in now.

Yet here he was, looking after a kunoichi he had known barely two months. Sure, he'd known _of_ her for a little longer than that, but then she was less than nothing, and _now…_

There was just _something_ about her that drew him in like a fly to a light. Something that he couldn't shake. He had believed it was because she was one of the few people who knew the truth behind his past. He had been _certain _that it was because she had stopped Kisame from witnessing his breakdown. He would have sworn blind that it was because she was the boss's kid sister, aka forbidden fruit. And _everyone_ liked forbidden fruit.

But it wasn't any of that. It was because she gave him something that he thought he would never have again from any moderately sane person.

_Acceptance._

She looked at him, and it made everything seem okay. Done. Forgotten about. He could start to think about living again.

"I… Itachi…?"

The vulnerability in her voice snapped him out of his reverie, and allowed his shields to once again build around him… or, if he was honest with himself, around them _both_.

She looked up at him, her eyes lost. "Why are you…?"

He blinked. "You… would have fallen to the floor otherwise."

She blinked, and her eyes regained some form of humanity. After a few seconds, she gave a small chuckle. "R… Right, of course." She then took a step back. "Thank you."

"What happened? How did you get in that state?"

The humour left her eyes, but she gave her attempt at a cover-up grin.

"State? Whatever do you-?"

"Don't play games with me. It's blaringly obvious that you can barely stand and your Chakra flow is… _erratic_ to say the least. Plus you're evidently terrified, bleeding from your eyes and heading in the opposite direction of the base. Now tell me. What happened?"

She blinked. "Fell over."

Itachi cocked an eyebrow, allowing his eyes to slide over her for effect as he repeated disbelievingly, dragging out the words for effect, "Fell over."

"Yeah." She started backing away from him. "Got concussion, you know the drill, right then bye-!"

"Pein attacked you didn't he?"

Sakura froze.

"You tried to protect Jiraiya-sama, and he retaliated… with one of his own jutsu. Correct?"

She looked back at him, flabbergasted, and he watched her triumphantly, awaiting her 'how' question.

Instead however, she muttered, "Bloody Uchiha", and he sweatdropped.

_I'd say that's a one-all. Wouldn't you, Itachi?_ Sakura thought.

She paused, "So you have come to take me back there?"

_No._ "Hn."

"And if I refuse?"

_I'll leave with you. _"It'd be fruitless trying to escape me in your condition."

She sighed. _He's right. Again._ "I can't go back there."

"You have nowhere else to go."

"He tried to kill me!"

_I know. The bastard. _"No, you _let _him try." Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but Itachi cut her off, "You're still too naïve, Sakura. Pein is the leader of the Akatsuki, first and foremost. Everyone in the Akatsuki has severed all ties to anyone and anything. The only reason he became interested in you, his sister, is because the Rin'negan awoke in you."

She looked away. "Don't you think I know that?"

"He's using your fondness of attachments against you. Because you are unwilling to kill it leaves you incredibly vulnerable."

She bowed her head.

"Keep on like this and you'll be dead within the month, whether you do or do not decide to stay at the base."

"I'm not weak, Itachi."

"Your attachments make you weak, because they automatically give you a weak spot. Take Naruto for example."

Sakura blinked.

"How will you cope when the time comes for his bijuu to be extracted? And how would you cope if you held no attachments for him?"

She looked away, "It's not as simple as that!"

"Isn't it? You only have one choice in this world. Life or Death. In his own way, I believe Pein was trying to show you that."

Sakura stared at him, then looked away. "Why should I hate and hurt those who are innocent in all this? The world… and the people who rage around within it… why should I go along with that?"

"Because when there's only yourself to rely on, there's no other choice."

She stared at him. He stared back, but gradually began to feel uncomfortable. "What?"

"Why are you telling me all this?" She asked, "Uchiha Itachi. The man who cares only for himself… don't you think your betraying that mirage?"

"I don't think so. As long as you return to the village with me I'm not betraying anything."

"So you're here on an order?"

"Obviously."

She smirked. "So you haven't just returned mid-mission _without_ Kisame because you were worried about me?"

He stared at her, but then his eyes widened as a line of blood fell from her left eye, and her own eyes widened with shock.

Moments later, she collapsed forwards onto him.

Standing a few metres behind her was the fat Pein, his hands in some obscure handsign.

"Good job detaining her."

After a few moments, Itachi nodded, letting Pein believe what he wanted, and Pein moved forwards. Every step made Itachi want to back away, to keep her close. Finally, Pein pushed her blood-stained pink-hair away from her face.

"You needn't worry. If she is strong enough, she will break out of this jutsu." Pein said calmly, now putting her unconscious body over his shoulder. "For now, however, she will be an exceptionally useful ally."

_Slave, more like._

"Time to head back."

The fat Pein turned and headed back to the base. Itachi watched him for a few moments, then decided it was best all round to find out just how this would play out.

--

"Hey, Sasuke. You've got a petal on you." Karin said in that sickly-sweet voice that she would sometimes use.

Suigetsu snickered, and Karin glared at him.

"What's up with you fishy?"

Suigetsu took the challenge, then took on a decidedly camp pose, and in the best imitation of Karin's sickly sweet voice said, "_Ohh_ Sasuke-sama, you're _sooo_ great…" He finished with moving his clasped hands up to the side of his face and fluttering his eyelashes.

"JERK!" Karin shouted, punching him.

Juugo watched the discussion continue with a detached look on his face, then looked at Sasuke, who was looking at the petal in his hand with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Sasuke-sama? What is it?"

He paused, "A Sakura petal… there are no Sakura trees around here."

_I don't know why… but somehow… I've got a bad feeling about this. _Sasuke thought. _A really bad feeling._

**(A/N) There you go, people who've been wondering what's going on with Sasuke and co. Quite an interesting chapter don't you think? Back to some adorable fluff next chapter. ItaSaku fans, you'll love it :D**

**Next chapter: Friction **(Spoiler: What? What?! WHAT?!)


	17. Friction BETA

**(A/N) Ugh. BETA'D. This is a BETTER version of that horrific excuse for a chapter that I posted a couple of nights ago.**

**Thanks to all the reviewers for last chapter:** Mirai No Dinurs, Pandastacia, Black Fire Blossom, BlackButterfly-RedRose, EverMindTheRuleOfThree, Anonymous, Silent Sinner Abella, Sadistic-Bitch, Tip Of The Top Hat, StrawberryPockyx3, AnImEwIlLRuLe, NejiTenSasuSaku4eva, ObsidianEbony, Mitsuki Sakura Uchiha, YouDon'tEven Care anymore, Azera-v **and** kitten652.

**Hopefully this one will be better.**

Itachi had moved Sakura from the outskirts of Amegakure, and was now with her in her room, waiting for Konan to bring in a bowl of hot water and a cloth to wipe away the copious amounts of dried blood from her face.

He knew personally that he shouldn't be feeling so surprised at Pein's actions, especially since he had tortured his younger brother on several occasions with his Tsukuyomi. But there was a difference between torturing someone and turning them into a slave.

Or so he liked to believe.

He didn't want to think of the mental damage that had been done to Sakura, especially with the level of blood that had come from her eyes, nose and mouth. Nothing he'd ever done to Sasuke had caused mental trauma on that level.

He sighed. He shouldn't be comparing himself and Pein, he knew for a fact that Pein followed a different set of rules altogether. But still… something just didn't fit… how could someone do that to their little sister?

He shrugged himself out of it when Konan arrived in the room. His eyes didn't leave Sakura's, which were blinking at the ceiling. Somehow, after all that, she was still conscious.

Konan placed the washbowl on the cabinet beside her bed. Konan's eyes fixed on Sakura, a dark, sad expression on her face.

"Konan." Itachi said quietly, eyeing the blue-haired kunoichi, "What jutsu was that?"

Konan looked back at him, then looked at Sakura.

"Samsara no jutsu." She said quietly, "The main power of the Rin'negan… rebirth. He was making her one of them. It was taking a lot longer than usual, but I suppose that's because he'd never used a living sacrifice before… and the fact that Sakura has her own Rin'negan… well… I guess he wasn't accounting for any errors."

Itachi's eyes narrowed, "You should have stopped him, if you knew what he was going to do."

Konan looked away, placing the washcloth into the bowl, then squeezing it dry. "Pein's wish is my wish."

Itachi didn't answer, just took the washcloth from her, and started cleaning Sakura's face, causing her to look at him.

"I know Nagato-kun." Konan snapped suddenly, "He wouldn't want his sister to die."

Itachi looked at her, confused, "Nagato?"

Konan glared at him. "He cares for his sister more than _anything_."

Itachi sighed. _This argument is pointless. _"Believe that and you'll believe anything."

"Pein is the Leader. This argument-!"

"Won't be repeated." Itachi snarled, glaring at her with his Sharingan, Konan's eyes became lazy, and she turned and left.

Itachi turned back to Sakura, his Sharingan fading into the onyx. He didn't know why he was so fixated with her, why he was risking his place of trust in the Akatsuki because of her, why she had become so much of a distraction.

Maybe it was the fact that no matter what he'd done, she still smiled at him, gave what little warmth she could to the gaping cold within? Was it that something in her eyes told him she understood? Or was it simply because he fancied her?

His breath hitched at the last question, and immediately busied himself with cleaning her face. No. He didn't harbour such emotions.

Then why did he find satisfaction in cleaning her face? Revealing her porcelain skin to him once more?

"Sakura?" He asked quietly, "What is your take on what Pein did?"

"Pein." She repeated, "I guess… he was right. At least I don't feel so torn anymore."

"He's put restraints on your mind. Doesn't that bother you?"

"No. Should it?" She asked.

He paused, his face, as ever, showing nothing. The washcloth ran along her lips.

"Yes." He said quietly.

Silence fell between them.

"Itachi…" She said quietly, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

She forced herself into a sitting position. "Like you're scared of what you see."

He blinked at her, then realised his vision had started to blur.

His Sharingan had activated again, and he blinked. _No. Not now. _He coughed, the washcloth going to his own mouth as he coughed up blood. He blinked, trying to bring the opposite wall back into focus.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Sakura was watching him with a confused look on her face. He looked at her, then hacked once more, and heaved in a breath.

"Itachi?" She gently tugged the cloth away from his face, and was surprised to see the blood there. "What…?"

"It's nothing."

She stared at him, "How long have you been coughing up blood for?"

He looked away, "Two years."

Her eyes widened.

"It's _nothing_, Sakura." He repeated.

She didn't answer, her hands plunging the cloth into the bowl of hot water, squeezing it and watching the blood cloud out from it.

With that, she moved it towards Itachi's mouth.

"I may be emotionally retarded right now, but I'm still a Medic, Itachi. Why didn't you tell me you were ill sooner?" She asked, her voice quavering with something similar to anger. He paused, "Actually no don't answer that, the answer's pretty obvious. You didn't want to look weak."

He looked away, and she placed her hand on his chest. Green Chakra now pouring out of her hand and into his chest.

He stared at her. "What are you doing? I have medicine."

"And I'm a Medic. Deal with it." She snapped.

"Why are you-?"

"What? So I'm just supposed to sit by watch you die, that it?"

_Yes_. He thought. _I've had it planned to that day... this disease is what keeps me going to my goal. Without it..._

He stared at her, his eyes flicking to Sharingan. After a few moments, however, he had to catch both of her hands, which were about to knock him out. She struggled against him for a few minutes, his hands sliding down to her wrists.

Still, she wouldn't make eye contact with him.

"Do to me what you did to Konan and I swear it won't be your illness that kills you." She muttered fiercely.

"You wouldn't remember it so you wouldn't." He said dryly.

Almost immediately, he was on his back, and Sakura was pinning him to the bed.

"Now you listen to me! I need you here! Do you understand that?! I'm not going to let you die!" She shouted, her flashing eyes on his chest, "You arrogant JERK!"

He blinked, his eyes onyx once more. Almost as if she sensed the change, her eyes went to his.

"I _need _you here."

Irritated, he pushed her off him, and left the room, leaving Sakura alone.

--

Not far away, Team Hebi were in a rush. Well, Sasuke was in a rush, his teammates were lagging behind him, getting gradually more irritated the further he got in front of them. Especially since he hadn't bothered to tell them where they were going.

"Sasuke-sama – where – are – we-?" Karin asked, panting,

"Amegakure." He replied stiffly.

Karin stopped in her tracks, "W-_What_? Why are – we going there? It's a-!" She was knocked by Suigetsu running past her, struggling with his heavy sword.

"Battle – zone – base – _of _– the Akatsuki?" Juugo suggested from ahead of them both.

"Why?" She asked, her eyes still on Sasuke's back, and she continued to run.

"Because – he has – 'a bad – feeling'." Suigetsu replied,

"About _what_?"

Sasuke's eyes darkened. _Sakura. _"If it's a base of the Akatsuki, it's likely Itachi will be there."

"Yeah, but walking – into – the – lion's den's a bit-!"

"Oh – _shut up_ – Porcupine-!"

"You _shut up_ – FISH boy!"

"Both of you shut up and keep moving." Sasuke snapped, and they continued on in silence.

--

Still reeling from her fight with Itachi, Sakura had taken to standing on the river outside, her gaze firmly on the stars.

The nights in Amegakure were rarely without rain, but when they were, the sky, and the river below, was a true masterpiece.

Before, her thoughts would have been of the Konoha Shinobi, but now they seemed to revolve around the Akatsuki and Pein's goals, and… if she could admit it to herself, Itachi.

Her eyes closed. _There are only two Jinchuuriki left for extraction. That means Naruto will soon die. _Before her thoughts could go any further, she winced as her headache returned. She knew that had been Pein's plan at the start, that feeling anything for people and attachments that she'd had previous to Akatsuki would cause her blinding pain, and literally rip the emotions from her. In a way she was glad for a reason to move on from Konoha, but at the same time, she knew it was incredibly wrong what he had done to her.

However, thanks to the jutsu, she didn't question, no, couldn't question him about what Jiraiya had told her. On some level, she knew Nagato was part of Pein. After all, if her emotions really were causing the Akatsuki _that_ much trouble, wouldn't it have made more sense just to kill her rather than go to the trouble of blocking her attachments?

Added to that, whatever Pein had done had made her senses far more heightened than usual, therefore, even when a person had cloaked their Chakra, she could still feel them nearby, another reason she had taken to standing outside. The startlingly demonic Chakra of her comrades was often too much to deal with. Feeling the unabused, calmer Chakra of the Amegakure inhabitants was a welcome alternative.

However, a Chakra signature that she recognised had been prowling the outskirts of Amegakure for quite a while now. That alone had taken her to carry out what she called 'Guard Duty'. But it wasn't long before she realised she wasn't the only Akatsuki outside.

Unsurprised by the signature, she smiled to herself. "Hello Itachi."

Itachi moved into the starlight. For once, he wasn't wearing his Akatsuki Cloak.

The other Chakra she felt earlier suddenly became clearer once again, almost as if it was reacting to Itachi. Her eyes flicked sideways to the shadows. Itachi, however, didn't appear to have noticed.

"You shouldn't be out here, you should be resting." He said, "You're not fully recovered yet."

"I'm the Medic, Itachi." She said, repeating what she had said earlier, causing Itachi's eyes to visibly flicker, "And I know that a breath of fresh air can do someone the world of good."

She looked up at the stars once more, and allowed herself to fall back onto the water, her Chakra keeping her on the surface so she could get a better look. She didn't know what it was, but the stars were keeping her attention.

"… Why are you out here?" She asked, after a few moments of silence.

"Same as you." He said. She looked at him, and saw that he too was looking at the stars.

"Not 'on orders' then?" She asked, a modicum of humour in her voice.

"Pein asked me to keep an eye on you." He confirmed.

She smirked. "Hmm. Right." She then stood up, and placed her hands behind her back. She had a very sneaking suspicion she knew who was in the shadows behind her, the bloodlust, directed towards Itachi, was almost overwhelming. How Itachi had not appeared to have sensed it was beyond her comprehension.

But she knew, if it was a certain somebody, just how to get them so riled up that Itachi would sense it too.

She didn't want to use Itachi like this, but hell, _what_ an opportunity.

She paused, wondering how to work it. Maybe tell Itachi they were being watched, but in such a way that it would cause a reaction out of… a certain somebody, or just grab him.

She moved forwards. "Somehow I don't think your out here on orders." With that, she moved forwards and placed her arms around his neck.

He tensed immediately.

"Keep quiet. We're being watched." She whispered in his ear, "I think it's Sasuke."

"I know. I was just waiting to see what you'd do about it." There was a strong chord of dry amusement in his voice. "_This_, I didn't expect."

Sakura's eyes widened. _Oh. My. God._

_I'm gonna kill him!_

_I really-!_

Her tension built further as he suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist, cutting off any comprehensible thoughts, all of which now appeared to be murmurs of protest followed by squeaks of indignance. All of which were hidden from Itachi. She hissed through her teeth as she realised that he probably understood that just by that small motion, Sakura, the great Rin'negan using Medical Ninja Sakura, had just been reduced to a puddle of bright pink goo at his feet.

"How long will he hold out, do you think?" He asked huskily, pulling back slightly, one hand now going through her hair. His deep red eyes showing both intent and awareness.

_How long will HE hold out?! More along the lines of how long will I hold out!!_ She thought, her stomach doing backflips due to his proximity. How Itachi could speak and act so calmly was beyond her comprehension… until of course she remembered he was _Itachi_ and emotionless was his middle name… and, she knew it was highly unlikely if he was affected at all.

"Uhh…" She swallowed, her voice growing steadily more high-pitched. She swallowed, then a very cunning smirk tugged at her lips.

_So that's how you're playing it, huh? Let's see how you deal with this, Uchiha!_

"Not as long as you would."

Both hers and Itachi's eyes widened as the meaning behind what she had just said sunk in.

_Oh._

_DEAR._

_God._

_Did I really just say that?!_

Neither of them spoke, both rooted to the spot. After a few moments of fantastically awkward silence, Itachi's features relaxed, and he smirked.

"Hn."

With that, he slid forwards and caught her mouth with his. Her eyes widened, both out of shock and out of pure disbelief.

_What?_

She continued to blink at him for a few more moments as she struggled to contemplate the scene in front of her. He was definitely pushing his lips against hers. But that would mean… no… he couldn't be kissing her… _could_ he? She continued to silently debate whether her eyes were lying to her.

_What?!_

Nope, they weren't lying. Her lips were definitely reacting to his, tingling, accepting him. And _god_ it felt _good_.

_WHAT?!_

For a few moments she wondered whether she should shove him back and slap him for being so god damn full-on, but the fact that it was _definitely_ an act and the strange tingling she felt at being so close to him persuaded her that she should maybe try and make him feel as… _gooey… _as she did.

Finally, she closed her eyes, and melted into it, closing her eyes and holding him closer.

Yup. Now she definitely was goo.

Goo on Cloud Nine.

Inner Sakura, however, was furious, though, to a _much_ lesser extent than before – _Bloody Uchiha! Is there anything he ISN'T good at?!_ – though she was flustered and dreamy as she said it, and soon collapsed in a euphoria-induced heap.

Sakura's senses, though they were sliding more and more in Itachi's direction, now keener than ever now she had her eyes closed, were still on the Chakra behind her, which had flared enormously. Hell yeah. She'd riled him up all right.

_Why in HELL hasn't he attacked yet?_

_Who CARES…_

_Concentrate! Think!_

_Think? PLEASE I can barely stand let alone-!_

_There._

Her Chakra detected the ripples in the water, ripples that denoted a rising Chakra, and that he was struggling whether to decide on attacking them or not.

_Hello, Sasuke._ She thought.

_Sasuke?! What's Sasuke got to do with anything – look at who we're kissing god damn it!_

Sakura knew that there was no way on this planet that Sasuke could last more than ten seconds watching his apparently psychotic brother and someone he had known from Team Seven kissing.

_Five… Four… Three… Two… One…_

Both she and Itachi threw their Shuriken at the oncoming squad of four. Sakura had no idea how she was still able to move and direct weapons in such a way, especially since her whole body was now jelly incarnate.

She looked around, "You shouldn't have come here, Sasuke. Any moment now the others will arrive and you will be _woefully_ outnumbered."

Sasuke's face was contorted with rage, and another emotion that Sakura couldn't recognise. She had an idea of what it was, but with it being Sasuke, well… such emotions didn't stir in him.

He glared at her, something in his eyes that she couldn't remember seeing from him.

She blinked, that wasn't jealousy. That was… pain…? She winced, slapping her hand to her forehead as a headache hit her, and she glared at him, electric blue Chakra becoming visible.

"Come to think of it... why _are _you here?" She asked, "You never attempted coming straight to the lion's den before, or are you really that desperate to see Itachi dead that your willing to risk your own life?"

"I've always been willing to risk my own life." He replied, "And you have no business asking _anything _off me."

"Because of what you just witnessed?" Sakura said, and Sasuke twitched. "Oh please, you honestly believe that wasn't just to lure you out?"

_Wow, I wish I was as confident as I sound._ She thought.

_Hell YEAH! Let him have it! _Inner Sakura cheered.

"Sakura." He said quietly, "You've changed."

She stared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Last I looked you didn't go round kissing murderers." He muttered, his voice strangely calm. "You're not that girl from Konoha anymore... I was foolish enough not to think that..."

Her eyes widened. _What's he saying?_

"That's why I won't hesitate to kill you this time." He said, his eyes flicking to Sharingan, "Come, Sakura!"

"Sasuke-sama-?"

"Stay back... she's _mine_."

She looked at Itachi, who also looked surprised by this latest development. Well, as surprised as Itachi could get.

Deciding there was no point pondering it, she smirked at Sasuke. "You asked for it."

With that, they both began to execute a vast array of Taijutsu, both of them pulled to the extreme. It seemed, to Sakura's surprise, that Sasuke really _was_ serious this time. It seemed he was nowhere near as weak as he was the last time she fought him.

_He's been holding back, all this time?_

It seemed she was now dodging his attacks, rather than he dodging hers, whenever he left an opening, it was deliberate, and she found herself swinging away from him. It made her wonder if Itachi held back when he fought her... otherwise Sasuke would have surpassed him in everything else other than eye techniques.

Finally, right when he was about to land a hit, there was an explosion in the river beneath them, knocking Sasuke into Karin and Sakura into Itachi.

Sakura looked around to see two of the Paths of Pein standing at either end of where the explosion had occurred. Irritated, she made to head back into the fight, but Itachi stopped her.

"Leave. Now." Pein said quietly, his eyes on Sasuke.

"No I-!"

Suddenly, he was thrown back by an unforeseen force, slamming straight into his teammates.

Sakura's eyes widened, and she looked at Itachi, who was watching his brother, eyes dark.

"Leave." Pein repeated, his arm outstretched.

"Sasuke-sama..." Karin murmured.

"This isn't over." Sasuke snarled, his eyes on Sakura and Itachi, and with that, he and his teammates left.

**(A/N) Ahhh... that's better. Forgive me for my first post, it was confusing, it annoyed me, and overall, was just plain horrendous.**

**Next Chapter: Resolve**


	18. Resolve

**(A/N) Nobody panic. That's all I have to say about this chapter. Read underneath the underneath :) Look for Loopholes. There's no point asking me if a certain thing that many of you are worried about does or does not happen because that would be the BIGGEST spoiler ever. Sorry :P**

**Thanks for all the awesome reviews for last chapter, and anyone who hasn't read the reformed version of 'Friction' you're better off reading that first. Thanks to: **Mirai No Dinurs, AnImEwIlLRuLe, Okinawa Angel, ozeki, crystal teardrops, gymgurl520, Bluebarry Pie, BlackButterfly-RedRose, 1-complicated-girl, itachimeri1989, StreetRacerSakura, EverMindTheRuleOfThree, Mistress DragonFlame, ObsidianEbony, I-Love-Akatsuki, jackie-chan1230, kitten652, RandomChibiDemon-chan **and **iluv2view2.

**Enjoy (hopefully I won't have to BETA this one XD)**

At the hospital in Konohagakure, a one-armed Sannin was slowly making his way outside, and hopefully to freedom.

"Jiraiya-samaaa..."

He visibly flinched and looked around. He knew it was Tsunade's plan from the start to put him with the ugliest, spottiest, largest nurse in the hospital, who also happened to be the only one to have a huge crush on him.

"Please... Gertrude... I'm begging you, just one breath of _fresh air_... that's all I need..." He said. 'Fresh air' was of course re-claiming his perch outside the ladies hot springs and getting his fill of some good looking women for a change.

"Nope, you know Tsunade-sama would have my heeeead."

_Why does she have to TALK like that. It'd be okay if she was pretty, then it would be endearing... but with her... ohhh it grates... Kami... what I'd give to see a beautiful lady... a brunette, maybe? No, a redhead, they're rarer..._

_No... there's only one person I want to see._

"Look, Gertrude... I'm sorry, but you know my heart belongs to Tsunade." He said.

"Don't be sillyyyy..."

"No, really, I'm being serious." He said, as Gertrude steered him round, blushing furiously, "I'm head over heels with her..."

"Of course you arrrreee." She steered him back into his room.

Jiraiya sat back down on the bed, sighing. "Seriously, what I'd give just to see her. Even if she just walked past my door once in a while."

"Right, time for your bed baaath."

"Wh-What?!" He gasped, "No, I can clean myself."

"Oh Jiraiya-samaaaa you're so shy!"

"I only had one yesterday!"

"You have to keep those wounds of yours cleeeean."

"I'm guessing this is under 'Nade's orders too?"

"Yeees."

"Then... fine."

Gertrude stared at him. "You care about her so much that you'd do anything for her?"

"Yeah... though I guess I'm more repulsive than ever. Scarred up to my chin." He rested his fingers on the bandage which was around his neck, underneath he could still feel where the spear had struck him. "One arm. I mean, really, how am I supposed to... you know... with one arm!"

Gertrude stared at him. "You're not repulsive. I am."

Jiraiya stared at her. "What?"

"You think it's easy, huh? When even the world's most perverted hermit doesn't find me attractive?" Gertrude asked, suddenly angry,

"No... you are it's just... you're not my type..."

With that, she sat down at the end of his bed, and started wailing, loudly, into her hands.

Horrorstruck, "I mean! You're perfectly – uhhh – attractive! You just haven't met the right-!"

Suddenly, the wailing turned into laughter... laughter that sounded strangely familiar.

With that, Gertrude disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and sitting there, laughing her head off, was none other than Tsunade.

Jiraiya blinked, then blinked again. Tsunade looked at him, laughed, then pointed at him, and collapsed back on the end of the bed, breaking into a fresh bout of giggles.

"You were Gertrude." He said quietly.

She broke into uncontrollable shrieks of laughter.

"You've been Gertrude... all this time..." He said.

"The LOOK on your face!" She said, and after a few moments, she regained control of herself. "Ohh... I haven't laughed that much in a long time."

"Always at my expense, huh?" He said quietly, he made to fold his arms, but his eyes went to the stump.

Tsunade watched him, now silent. "You just reminded me of Naruto."

"What?"

"The looks he gets on his face when he thinks about Sakura." She said, "It's like he's lost a limb too."

Jiraiya stared at him, "More than a limb, Tsunade." He paused, then his eyes widened, "Sakura..."

Tsunade blinked at him.

"She..." He paused, "She was there... when I fought Pein."

She moved forwards, "Just standing there or..."

"No... she..." His eyes widened, "She _protected_ me. I nearly died... and she... she fought against him... she used her teleportation to send me back here... putting herself at risk."

He looked up at Tsunade, whose eyes were on his bedsheets, wide as saucers.

"Tsunade?" He asked quietly,

"I'll... I'll be right back!" She gasped.

She left his ward at a run, disbelief and worry littering her features.

"_She _protected_ me."_

_Protect... why would she do that if she had no feelings for Konoha?_

_Sakura... please be all right..._

--

Sakura herself was standing on the river in Amegakure. Her eyes focused on a far off point. They closed as she remembered the discussion she and Itachi had back in her bedroom.

"_I have to face him... I have to finish this once and for all. Otherwise he'll just keep coming back."_

_She stared at him. "I still haven't healed you yet."_

"_That doesn't matter." His eyes were glazed, careless. He didn't seem to care whether he was well enough or not. "It has to end."_

_She moved forwards to him. "Tell me you're not planning what I think you're planning."_

_He didn't answer, his eyes focussing on the wall._

"_You... you're going to let him kill you... aren't you?"_

_He looked at her._

"_No... no you can't."_

_"Sakura." Itachi said quietly._

"_I won't let you!" She said._

"_Sakura."_

_"And don't even THINK about wiping my memory!" She shouted, her eyes wide with tears, "I am not __letting_ _you die! Not like this!"  
_

_"Why?"_

_"Because it's just ____WRONG__, that's why!" She said, "Not ____everything __should revolve around ____Sasuke__."  
_

_She looked back at him, clearly avoiding his eyes now.  
_

_"What do you think will happen, huh? If Sasuke finds out the truth about you?" She asked, "He'll go on a rampage, and you ____know __he will."  
_

_"That's what I'll need you for." He said quietly, "I'll need you to stop him."  
_

_"Yeah, while your six feet under. Only a Sharingan can beat a Sharingan and you know it. Oh, and what will be even funnier, if he gets the MANGEKYOU from killing you! Oh that would be just ____brilliant__, then we're all-!"  
_

_"Sakura." He said,  
_

_"What? Think I'm being dramatic?" She asked, "Better yet... ____annoying__?"  
_

_He stared at her, "No."  
_

_"Then WHAT?"  
_

_Her eyes widened as he drew forwards and kissed her. She closed her eyes both to avoid his and to savour the kiss._

She opened her eyes again, and placed her fingers on her lips, remembering the feel of his against hers. _Itachi..._

"Sakura."

She looked around and saw Tobi standing there. He seemed unusually serious in comparison to his usual bouncy self.

"Itachi has gone to face Sasuke hasn't he?" He asked.

She paused, then nodded.

"You should know that the Kyuubi container and his comrades are on their way to Sasuke." He said quietly, "You'll be coming with me to intercept them."

She looked at him, "So it's true then."

Tobi stared at her.

"You're Uchiha Madara, aren't you?"

He stared at her, and her eyes locked on his single Sharingan eye. She then turned away.

"It doesn't matter to me either way. It'd just be interesting to know who the real boss is." She said.

"It doesn't concern you." He said quietly. "Let's go."

--

Not far from them, the two teams dispatched to retrieve Sasuke at all costs were at a standstill, receiving a message from Konoha in the form of an eagle.

"What does it say?" Kiba asked, as Kakashi seemed to stare at the small scroll. His only visible eye flicked to the eagle, which soon left.

"It's a message from the Hokage." Kakashi said quietly, "It seems... that Sakura's in danger."

"What?" Naruto asked,

"She protected Jiraiya from Pein... there may have been... no, there will have been severe consequences." He said quietly.

"Well heeey there!"

They all started, and looked up to see an Akatsuki member wearing an orange mask standing in the trees above them. He then waved, causing the Konoha Shinobi to sweatdrop.

"Oh great, another weirdo Akatsuki. We're in a hurry, here!"

"Get out of the way!" Naruto shouted, making to plunge his Rasengan into Tobi's stomach. Instead, however, it just phased through.

"That... was _rude_." Tobi said, looking back at Naruto, who had slammed face-first into the ground behind him.

"Here we go again." A voice said from above him. Naruto looked up to see Sakura herself staring down at him. "You really need to learn some restraint, Naruto."

**(A/N) Brief, but quickly updated. I've just thought, and I really want reviewers opinions on this. How do you guys feel about the Tobito Theory? (Tobi is Obito) I've never written about it but I think it'd be a cool challenge XD Obviously if anyone's massively opposed to it I won't put it in. Just depends how AU you guys want this story to be lol.**

**Next Chapter: Remorse **(Spoiler: Sasuke. Sasuke. Oh, and did I mention Sasuke?)


	19. Remorse

**(A/N) A few surprises in this chappy. A little angst here and there, but generally, a good chapter (I like the way it turned out anyway... and that's rare lol).**

**Thanks to the reviewers for last chapter: **Okinawa Angel, BlackButterfly-RedRose, knightchaser, Enumoon, itachimeri1989, sabaku no hikari, kitten652, Silver Shadowbreeze, ozeki, Mitsuki Sakura Uchiha, indra, StreetRacerSakura, Sadistic-Bitch, crzyaznsroxursox, Mistress Dragonflame, EverMindTheRuleOfThree, 1-complicated-girl, I-Love-Akatsuki **and **ObsidianEbony.

**Anyhow, I did say last chapter I was contemplating using the Tobito Theory in this story, however, I think in order to do it justice it'd take too much focus off the main story. I'll probably do a companion fic which focuses on the story of the people left in Konoha, or just a different fic which includes it lol, so look out for that :D**

**Enjoy :D**

"Here we go again. You really need to learn some restraint, Naruto."

Naruto looked up at his old comrade, his eyes wide. There was something different about her this time round. Older. He jumped up and took a few steps back.

"Sakura-chan." He said quietly, "So your with this weirdo this time, huh?"

Sakura looked up at Tobi, who was staring down at them both.

"Weird? Nah. Just quirky." She said coolly, "Isn't that right?"

"What is this, a catch-up session?"

Her eyes rested on the group of Konoha Shinobi.

_Kakashi... Yamato... Kiba and Akamaru... Hinata... huh... what's his name again? Oh. Shino... Shikamaru... Ino... and Naruto._

_Wow. Tsunade's really serious this time, huh. _

"We're delaying them so what does it matter either way?" She asked, then her eyes turned back to Naruto, "Of course if they make any attempt to come past me then our exchanges won't be as nice."

Naruto's eyes visibly darkened. "So that's how it is, huh."

"I'd blame yourself for that." She said, "How much has the seal decayed since the last time we met? It'd be interesting to get yet another scar off your lodger. Add it to my collection."

Behind him, Sakura saw Hinata's fists clench and unclench.

"Well? Want to get past me or not?" Sakura asked.

Naruto stared at her, "Hurts, doesn't it. When you can't save someone."

Sakura blinked, and that was enough.

Tobi yawned, loudly. "You know, this is all very interesting, but weren't you trying to get to Sasuke?"

"You heard him, Kiba." Kakashi said quietly.

"Looks like he wants to get beaten up." Kiba said, "Ready Akamaru?!"

Akamaru barked, and they both launched their joint attack. Right when it looked like they were about to hit him, Tobi sidestepped them with ease.

Everyone else, including Sakura, sweatdropped.

"I'm starting to realise why Konoha feared you, Sakura." Tobi said, "The rest of them are useless."

Sakura resisted the urge to facepalm. She didn't know why, as now she was in the Akatsuki it shouldn't really affect her, but Tobi being able to block three Konoha Chuunin squads on his own was embarrassing.

She watched her old teammates discussing something in undertones, probably, no, definitely working out how they were going to bring down Tobi.

_If only they knew who he was. Maybe then they could... _She did facepalm this time, but for an entirely different reason. Her hand slapped to her head as waves of pain engulfed her.

"Sakura-chan?"

She looked at Naruto, who was staring at her, evidently torn between worry and the fact she was on the same side as Tobi.

_Naruto..._

More waves of pain shot through her head, and instead she decided to focus on what was happening with Tobi.

Her eyes widened as they locked on the Tobi-shaped cloud of insects.

_Huh? Who-? _Her eyes locked on Shino, who was controlling the bugs. The sheer amount of them was almost too much to contemplate.

Her lips twitched. _Not so useless now, are they Madara?_

She let out a gasp, as she once again felt a strike of pain, but even through that, her lips continued to twitch.

"All right, Shino!" Naruto cheered.

Sakura stared up at him. _It's a good attempt... but it won't be enough._

As she expected, the hope the Konoha Shinobi had at beating him was soon gone as Tobi disappeared altogether.

"What?" Kakashi asked.

_This is a man who technically shouldn't be alive. _She thought. _This is the man who even Itachi couldn't beat._

"That's impossible." Shino said, "He just disappeared. My bugs should be able to trace him by his Chakra but..."

"He's up there!" Hinato said suddenly, and they all looked up to see Tobi waving down at them.

Moments later, a strange crunching sound was heard, and Zetsu appeared. Immediately, Sakura shot up into the trees to hear what they were saying.

"Well?" Tobi asked, reverting into his Madara persona.

"It's all over."

"And?"

"Sasuke won!" The white side gasped. "Uchiha Itachi is dead." The darker side said quietly.

Sakura's heart, which was in her mouth, then plummeted deep, deep down into the depths of her stomach, and suddenly she felt cold. _Very_ cold.

"Whoaaaa! Didn't see that coming!" Madara said, "NOT... just as I thought..."

"Sasuke collapsed like a second later though. What do you say? He's probably fading fast."

"Sakura." Madara said quietly, and she looked at him. He paused momentarily, noting the sudden change in her appearance. "Stall them."

"Hai." She said, and took his place as both he and Zetsu left.

She stared down at the Konoha Shinobi, the world a haze as she contemplated what she had just heard.

_Sasuke won. Uchiha Itachi is dead._

She looked back to where Madara had gone, he had completely disappeared from view.

"...told us what happened." Naruto said suddenly, his voice becoming audible again, "He told us you saved him."

Sakura looked back at them. "What?"

"Ero-sennin told us you saved him." Naruto repeated. Sakura's eyes darkened, her thoughts once again, going uncontrollably, to Itachi.

"He's mistaken." She said softly.

"Whether you like it or not, that jutsu that brought him back was yours. Nobody else that we know of can accurately perform a teleportation jutsu." Kakashi said calmly, "You brought him back."

She looked back at them, considering, struggling to come up with what to say next. Tell them that she was imprisoned by her brother's jutsu? Tell them that so much as thinking of returning to Konoha causes her blinding pain? Tell them of Itachi's plan? Her eyes darkened. "Leave."

"Sakura. Whatever your planning, you don't have to do it alone." Shikamaru interrupted quietly.

"It seems your analytical abilities have gone downhill." She said, finally managing to find some control over her thoughts. "You all continue to talk to me as if we're on the same side... but we're not. If I am up to anything, it's got nothing to do with Konoha."

"Then why haven't you attacked us?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"Sakura." Shikamaru said again, bringing her attention back to him, "It's all right to make a mistake once in a while." She looked away, gripping her head as waves of pain engulfed her. "We know that Danzou framed you... Konoha will welcome you back... but only if you come with us now."

"I can't do that." She said.

_Sakura. Return to the base immediately. _Pein's voice said in her head. For some reason it didn't shock her, and for the life of her, at that moment, she couldn't understand why.

She made to move away, when she felt something that was most definitely Shikamaru's shadow technique.

"Let me go. _Now_." She said,

"You are returning to Konoha with us, whether you like it or not."

Shikamaru forced her turn around and face them.

"I told you I _can't_." She said, "Continue to bind me with your jutsu and you will regret it. I don't need my hands to perform jutsu."

"Then it looks like I'll have to take control of your body." Ino said, speaking for the first time.

"That's a _really_ bad idea. Trust me." She said, struggling to keep her face straight as waves of pain blinded her.

Ino's hands formed the handsign, and moments later Sakura felt Ino's spirit hit her full force. It was thrown back almost immediately, repelled by Pein's barriers in her brain.

Ino's spirit returned to her body and she collapsed, her hands on her head.

"I did warn you, you know." Sakura said quietly.

"Ino - what happened-?"

"There's... something... in there... it deflected me..."

"Right. And it's about to 'deflect' the rest of you." Sakura said, "I'll give you one last warning. Let me go."

"Shikamaru." Kakashi said quietly, and he looked at him. "Let her go."

"What?"

"Just do it. I'll explain later."

With that, his Shadow Bind jutsu released her, and Sakura disappeared in a rush of Sakura petals.

"Why?" Shikamaru asked quietly, his eyes on Kakashi.

"Couldn't you tell?" He asked, "What happened to Ino proved it."

Shikamaru blinked.

"She's being controlled on some level." He said, "She winced every time we mentioned her coming back to Konoha, not only that, she seemed reluctant to hurt us, but apparently had no control over it if she did."

"... Sasuke!" Naruto gasped suddenly. "We-!"

"It's too late. They would have got to him by now." Shikamaru said quietly.

"Dammit!" Naruto hissed.

"Maybe... Sakura will save him." Hinata said quietly, "I-If she's being controlled, then that means she's a liability when left to her own devices, r-right?"

"Right." Shikamaru said, "I guess... we have to leave it up to her. She'll return when she's ready."

"Right."

"Let's go back."

--

Sakura returned to the base, she gave her report to Pein on what had happened, she spoke to Hidan and Kakuzu, she sat in the Meeting Room.

Everything was mechanical, until Kisame took her out of the room, leading her down a hallway she hadn't been down before.

Finally, he said something that she heard.

"He's in here." Kisame said, opening a door for her.

_He?_

Kisame then turned and left.

Her eyes widened as it clicked who exactly would be in that room. Then, utterly numb, she moved forwards through the small stone archway, and into a larger somewhat brighter room that reminded her of a cave. Her eyes slowly moved over to the stone slab in the centre, then moved upwards. A pair of feet were what she saw first, and that was enough for her to look away, staring at the wall, struggling to maintain her calm. She rested her hand against the wall, using it to maintain her balance as she forced herself to look at the rest.

_Feet... legs... pants... h-hands... _arms_..._

She looked away again as she noted the amount of dried blood that was on his arms and hands.

_For god's sake, Sakura. You're a Medic. _She thought. Even her thoughts were betraying her emotions. _Treat him as a normal cor... as a patient._

Chastising herself, she forced herself to look at him once more.

_Feet. Legs. Pants. Hands. Arms. Chest... Neck..._

She let out a choked sob as her eyes rested on his face. Itachi was almost unrecognisable, the dried blood littered his usually pale features, his eyes were not the dangerous Sharingan red, or the beautiful deep onyx... but an empty, lifeless cloud grey.

She covered her mouth, letting herself shake for a few moments, then pushed herself away from the wall, and staggered slowly towards him, her eyes blurring in and out of focus as she did so. Finally, she made it to his arms.

_Okay. You know what to do. Just take a deep breath._

Slowly, she formed her Chakra in her fingers, and started to siphon off the dried blood, something she had learned to do as a Medic. As he was revealed to her more as himself, she had to pause to regain her composure.

_Arms... done... next..._

Her eyes darkened.

_Face._

She used the stone slab to move herself along, her legs almost paralysed with surges of grief. She placed her hand over his face, and again began to siphon off the dried blood.

Once his face was clean, she heaved a gasp, her hand covering her mouth.

_Itachi... you..._

"Bloody _Uchiha_." She whispered as tears streamed down her face. She turned around, and faced the much less emotionally stressful wall. Her eyes closed as she once again remembered their conversation.

_"Maybe there's another way?" She asked, "Hatake Kakashi has the Mangekyou Sharingan... but the only person he has ever seen as a best friend is already dead... so maybe it's the despair that matters."_

_"Sakura..."_

_"Sasuke just needs to believe that you're dead and that he killed you!" She said, "And that's... that's do-able!"_

Itachi turned away, his eyes flickering.

"Itachi, you were in ANBU! Ever heard of living death?"

_Calmly, he said, "It was used as a last option, an alternative to get someone out of an undercover mission."_

_"To make the enemy believe that they were dead." She said, "You can use it! You don't have to die!"_

_He shook his head._

_Sakura stared at him. "Please... at least consider it..."_

_"What do I have to live for, Sakura?" He asked, suddenly angry, "I killed my entire family, and the only one who I didn't wants me dead."_

_"Because you made him think like that. It doesn't have to end here."_

_"How am I supposed to atone for it? The only way I've been able to live with myself is knowing that one day I will die by my brothers hands."_

_"It wasn't your fault-!"_

_"So I didn't slit my parents throats? So I didn't throw Shuriken at those of my Clan who were unable to defend it? So I didn't burn my cousin alive just so I could gain more power?" He asked,_

_"It wasn't you." She repeated, "It was Konoha who did all that. You were a pawn. They USED you."_

_"I still did it, though didn't I?"_

_"Yes... because it was the lesser of two evils. How many people would have died, do you think? If they had gone through with their coup d'etat. Not a Clan's worth, not by any means. Hundreds, thousands even could have died if you didn't do the one thing nobody else could." She said, "You've lived your whole life with violence as your shadow, wouldn't you like to see more than that?"_

_He stared at her. "I can't."_

_"Not can't. Won't." She said, "If you want to die so badly why don't you just go ahead and kill yourself then, at least then I won't have to wait for your body to come back." _

_She felt his eyes bore into her as she stared away from him._

_"I don't want to see you dead... is that so wrong?"_

_He didn't answer, heading for the door, and the last thing he said was. "Watch out for Uchiha Madara."_

She let out a sigh. _Uchiha to the last._

"If you'd wanted it I would have shown you, you know." She said quietly, her voice monotonous, "I would have shown you what it's really like to live."

With that, she left the room.

--

Sasuke was sitting in a dark room with Madara, his eyes focused on the opposite wall. Confusion, pain and denial were all ripping through him with every syllable the older Uchiha said of his brother.

_Itachi... a hero...?_

_A sacrifice...?_

_A lover of PEACE...?!_

_He could've killed me... but didn't..._

_He decided to die by my hands from the moment he killed the Clan._

"Do you understand it yet? He killed his best friend, his superiors, his father, his mother, his lover... but he couldn't kill you."

Sasuke stared at him.

_He..._

"He had planned everything up until your final confrontation. He planned that you would win. He planned that you would kill him, as atonement for the murder of the Clan. He had to fight you... and die before your eyes. For the sake of Konoha, and more than anything, for you, he wanted to die a criminal, a traitor, accepting all the hatred that came with it."

Madara cut the rope surrounding Sasuke, who stood up, his eyes wide.

"Even after all that, he died smiling. Entrusting Uchiha to you... and lying to you until the very end."

With that, Madara made to leave.

"You should get dressed. Your team are waiting for you."

Sasuke watched him leave, then immediately moved over to the corner of the room and retched.

--

Much later on, in the darkness of the caved room, Uchiha Itachi's eyes were focussing. After a few moments, he twitched a toe, then a finger, and then finally, his mouth opened, and he heaved in a gasp, his grey eyes darkening to onyx, and then brightening to Sharingan.

He looked around, struggling to get his body to obey him and his eyes to focus. After a few moments, his hands went to his face, where he realised one side was wet.

He looked at his fingers, then sighed. _So you were in here, Sakura._

He twisted round on the stone slab, and stood up, his body screaming in protest. Particularly, his back. For a few moments he wondered why he had been placed on such an uncomfortable monstrosity as the stone slab, but then, he realised they didn't expect him to be getting up.

After a few moments, he placed his hands together, and after a few moments, a Kage Bunshin appeared.

Itachi glanced at the stone bench, and the Kage Bunshin glowered at him. He shrugged, knocked it out, then pushed it onto the bench. With that, he made his exit from the room, careful to cloak his Chakra.

He rushed through the winding hallways, and was about to make his way through the next, when he saw Sasuke heading in his direction.

His eyes widened and he hid behind the wall. After a few moments of Sasuke walking towards the outside door, another figure appeared behind him.

"Sasuke."

Itachi's eyes widened again as he heard Sakura's voice. It was barely recognisable.

_I did that?_

"I take it you've spoken to Madara." She said. After a few moments, Sasuke nodded. "What... what are you going to do?"

Sasuke looked away, "Konoha will pay for what they've done."

Itachi's eyes closed.

"Looks like we're on the same side then."

After a pregnant pause, Sasuke asked, "What happened between you and my brother?"

Itachi could see the sadness in her eyes from where he was standing. It was burning him not to be near her, but he had to wait this out. Sasuke still had to believe that he was dead.

"Everything," She said, then a sad smile came onto her face. "Nothing. I don't even know."

Itachi swallowed.

Sasuke seemed to become awkward at this, and he started to make his way outside.

"He loved you, Sasuke." Sakura said quietly, "I hope you know that."

He looked back at her, then nodded. "Yeah... I know." With that, he left.

Sakura stared after him, and Itachi found himself struggling over whether to go over to her or not. He started as she turned to look in his direction. After the longest ten seconds of Itachi's life, Sakura spoke again.

"Huh... must be imagining things..." She muttered, and she too left through the door.

He watched the door for a few more moments, then he too made his way out of the base.

**(A/N) You honestly believed I would kill my favourite character? God, give me SOME credit people :P Apologies for the Sasuke-Madara bit. It was craaap.**

**Next chapter: Friend or Foe **(Spoiler: "You check my rhyme, you know it's good, the rhyme of the eight tails yo, and he's a stud!")


	20. Friend or Foe

**(A/N) Thanks for all the reviews for last chapter :D, they really do work wonders for the muse.**

**This one took a bit longer than expected, I had so many different variations of these scenes played out in my head (and written) that I didn't know which to put in and which to leave out. But in the end I came up with this. I'm glad you guys liked the spoiler for last chap… I thought it was pants but hey, made you laugh :P**

**By the way… a friend of mine is helping me make Truth and Lies into a doujinshi (fan manga) which I have been uploading on my deviant art page… just thought you'd like to know… XD I know you've all read it before (obviously, that's why you're reading this ^^;) but the scenes will be mangafied and BETA'd, with some small additions XD, hope you all like the idea of that :P**

**Anyway, enough of me. Enjoy XD**

The air was ice cold, biting her overly dry face as Sakura made her way outside. Her thoughts kept flicking back to going inside again for a few moments to check her earlier instincts, but she knew if she were late, it would only give Madara ammo against her. They were heading to the outskirts of Rain Country, to an outpost where he had specifically chose to meet them.

He had refused point blank to return to the base, as he claimed that he was soon to join Deidara, and to go back to the base would mean he would have to backtrack on his path.

Sakura knew, however, that this was nothing more than a display of authority, and Madara was starting to show and _revel_ in his true colours now Itachi was out of the picture.

It stunned her how much could change in a few hours following someone's death in the Akatsuki. It only served to prove what an incredible man Itachi had been. Preventing Madara from talking to Sasuke, preventing him from heading to Konoha when it was blatantly clear that they were running out of time to catch the Nine-Tails, preventing him from basically being himself.

She sighed. _Just how blind have I been?_

She looked ahead of her to see Sasuke join his group, who then flanked him and continued to head towards the outpost. She gazed at the back of his head, both anger and pain warring it out with equal strength inside her mind.

It was because of him that Itachi was dead.

But Itachi _wanted_ to die by his hand.

Itachi _did_ die by his hand… covered in his own blood.

Sasuke was still injured.

It was Itachi's choice.

If it weren't for Sasuke, Itachi would still be alive.

She let out an angry sigh, pushing the thoughts away from her, and soon caught up with Sasuke and his team, making sure to remain a comfortable distance away from them.

She wondered momentarily how she had managed to do this, when she realised that they were in fact, moving at a slow pace. She cocked an eyebrow, and moments later, she found out why.

"How many times, fish boy?! Why the hell do you have to carry around that stupid sword and slow us down?!" Karin shouted, and Sakura was forcefully reminded of how much she despised that kunoichi's screeching voice.

"It's not _stupid_, bitch, it's one of the legendary swords." Suigetsu said, panting, and Sakura immediately understood the 'fish boy' nickname. "And at least I have a _reason_ for being here, unlike _someone_."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"You know damn well what it means! You're only here because you want to be close to Sasuke!"

"I-I-I have no idea what you're talking about!" Karin screeched, her voice growing louder, and her hands quickly going to her glasses and fixing them even though she was still running.

"Both of you shut up. We're getting close." Sasuke said calmly, and almost immediately it seemed as if the conversation was forgotten, at least by Karin anyway. Suigetsu however was glaring daggers at Sasuke's back.

_Interesting. Group tension, much?_ She thought. She looked back ahead of her as she felt Sasuke's Sharingan eyes flick to look at her.

It reminded her uncomfortably of Itachi when he had tried, in vain, to erase her memory. She could feel them then, and she could definitely feel them now, like hot lasers burning against her skin.

Soon, however, they arrived at the outpost, and his eyes were deflected elsewhere. For a few moments she was surprised by the sheer lack of care that had gone into the building. It was almost derelict, a giant hole in the roof on one side, clearly the product of some form of jutsu during a war.

She would have thought they had got the wrong place if it wasn't for the palpable, sickening, pulsating Chakra that was coming from inside.

She stalked in through a hole in the wall which was now, she supposed, the door, and found Madara, Pein and Kisame sitting on one side of a long table. Sakura nodded briefly at Kisame, who nodded back. That was all that was needed. A thank you, and a your welcome for showing her to the room they had placed Itachi in.

She leaned back against the wall opposite the three, and waited calmly as Sasuke and his team entered. Sasuke slumped into the chair, interestingly, at the head of the table, while his teammates once again flanked him.

"Hoshigaki Kisame." A calm yet excited voice she recognised as Suigetsu's said immediately. "Time to play."

She watched as Suigetsu launched across the table, ready to carve Kisame's head in two, when suddenly he seemed to lose control of it, and Pein was holding his hand up.

Sakura's eyes widened. With them she had seen the minimal amount of Chakra that Pein had used to repel the sword, similar to a shift in magnetic force, causing the sword to refuse to go any further.

Suigetsu also looked stunned, and he was watching Pein with surprise.

"Your boy lacks discipline, Madara." Pein said quietly, "Maybe he should learn to pick his group more carefully."

"You're one to talk of discipline, Pein." Madara retorted, and Sakura felt a jolt in her stomach as she realised they were talking about she and Sasuke. Like they were _playthings._

Madara turned his head to look at Sasuke, "You claimed you wanted to destroy Konoha. How do you plan to go about-?"

"The only reason _I'm _here is to get to Kisame. That's the only reason I joined up with Sasuke." Suigetsu said, cutting across Madara angrily.

Sasuke sighed, "Have it your way, Suigetsu, but you can't beat him yet anyway."

Suigetsu looked at Sasuke, then sighed in resignation. "Fine. But I'll have him for lunch eventually."

"Akatsuki isn't powerful enough either." Madara said quietly.

"So you've no room to talk." Suigetsu grumbled.

"Our aims are similar, so we should move as one."

Sakura had to repress a chuckle. _Sure. Like you haven't been planning that from the very beginning._

"Why should we join you?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"I'll give you one of the Tailed Beasts."

Sakura's eyes flicked from Madara to in between both he and Pein. She could sense the tension between the two powerhouses, and it seemed to grow even tenser as Madara mentioned handing over one of the Tailed Beasts.

"Tailed Beasts?" Sasuke asked.

"You don't know what they are?" Madara asked, surprised.

"Indeed. Considering he worked alongside and fought a container of one of them." Pein said crisply.

Sakura looked at Pein, surprised. Was he _belittling _Sasuke just to _get at _Madara?

"And?" Sasuke asked, visibly tense due to Pein's blatant dislike of him.

Karin stepped in, "I know! They're basically Chakra in physical form-!"

"What. _Are_. They?" Sasuke asked, cutting across her, causing her to huff and look away.

Sakura suddenly felt an unbidden rush of sympathy for Karin. She knew what she had just tried to do, as she had tried it many times herself. Gaining Sasuke's acknowledgement was like being given back your soul after he had, however unwittingly, stolen it. After her rush of pity, however, she felt intensely glad that she no longer harboured such feelings for him.

"They're Chakra Monsters, originally under control by the first Hokage. He gave them to different countries, once the treaties had been signed, in order to stabilise the balance of power. They're basically Chakra weapons… not a bad deal, is it?" Madara said casually.

_He's lying. For one thing, there's no way Pein would allow it, and for another it was impossible for them to go ahead with their plans unless they had all nine bijuu. Come on, Sasuke, prove you're not an idiot!_

"You're generous." Sasuke said, leaning back and latching his fingers together.

_Maybe not._ She sighed inwardly. _He really is... stupid._

"Betray Akatsuki, however, and you're dead." Madara said flatly.

"Heh." Sasuke smirked.

Sakura resisted the urge to hit Sasuke. It wasn't his objective that bothered her, not by a long shot, but his _evident _god complex since killing Itachi. He sat at the head of the table, he talked to Madara like he was using him, not the other way around which was _blatantly_ what was happening, and he treated his teammates like they were nothing.

Added to the that, she couldn't help but notice that Karin looked at him in the way Konan often looked at Pein.

_I will accept your goals as if they were my own._

"Sakura?" A voice she recognised as Pein's asked.

She started and realised her fists, that she had locked together with her fingers behind her had completely obliterated the wall she had been leaning against. She looked back at the now circulating dust and sighed.

"You have a problem?" Madara asked quietly,

"Hand slipped." She replied coolly.

Kisame blinked at her. She hadn't obliterated a wall since she had first entered the Akatsuki base, ironically, he knew it was the last time she had thought about a certain Uchiha.

"Do you mind not destroying any more walls?" Madara asked, "The building will collapse if you do."

"Like I said, my hand slipped." She repeated pointedly, almost daring him to continue to draw attention to her mishap.

Madara visibly glanced at Pein, and Sakura had to look away, her teeth gritting behind her lips.

_I am not a plaything. Sasuke, maybe. But _I'm _not._

"There are nine tailed beasts in existence. At present we have seven of them. We'll split up and capture the remaining two." Madara said finally. "That's our most pressing concern."

"So you still haven't captured the Kyuubi." Sasuke said coolly.

"There have been attempts, but that is of no concern."

Sakura couldn't _believe_ what a bitchfest Madara and Pein's power-struggle had become.

"Hawk will go after the Eight Tails. Akatsuki will go after the Nine Tails."

"Sakura will be watching Hawk." Pein said quietly, causing Sakura to want to blow the dust into invisible particles.

"You don't trust Sasuke?" Madara asked,

"No." He replied bluntly,

"And you believe she is more trustworthy considering her past behaviour when it comes to Jinchuuriki?"

Sakura made sure to keep her face impassive, but Inner Sakura was starting to rant. _Just what the hell does he mean by…?_ Then her mind went back to the recent encounter with Naruto. _Oh… so because I didn't attack him when he was with a part of a three-squad team I was in the wrong?_

She resisted a sigh. _He really needs to work on his logic._

"Sakura will make sure the job is done if Hawk should fail."

With that Pein stood, and made to leave, evidently wanting the last say in it. He paused next to Sakura, holding out a small slip of paper in his hand. "Here are the Eight Tails' whereabouts." He said quietly, and Sakura took it. "_Don't _fail me."

"Who's going after the Nine Tails?" She asked quietly, just as Pein was about to leave through the hole in the wall.

"_I _am."

Sakura's eyes widened briefly, then she turned to look at Madara.

"Seems a bit severe, sending Pein?" She asked.

"There's no one else." Madara replied quietly.

She blinked. "What about Hidan and Kakuzu?"

"Dead." Kisame said suddenly.

Sakura blinked at him, "I know _that_ but-!"

"No, really dead." He said.

She looked at Madara.

"When did this happen?"

"I ordered them to intercept the squads you stalled." He said, "It seems they weren't as immortal as they made themselves out to be."

She stared at him incredulously, "Against three Chuunin squads?"

"The squads were also a little worse for wear I believe. Took one of the team members with them."

She forced herself not to look shocked, even though a blinding headache had just struck her full force.

_One of the team members… _which _one?_

She forced herself out of it.

"What about Deidara?"

"He ran into some trouble returning from his bounty mission, but he should be back within a couple of days."

"Right…"

"And, as you know, he is my partner."

She gave a brief nod, even though Inner Sakura was thinking: _so?_

"Leave when you're ready." Madara said, looking at her and Team Hawk as he said it. Then, he nodded to Kisame, and they too left.

She felt the knot, which she hadn't realised had been in her stomach, untie itself, and she let out a sigh.

"They always like that?" Suigetsu asked, "I thought they were going to fight to the death."

She moved forwards to the table, then sat on it, and eyed the paper in her hands.

"No idea." She replied, "To be truthful Madara only showed himself once Itachi died. Before he was called 'Tobi' and… well… was basically an idiot. Amazing how well that coffin dodger can act."

She pulled it open and looked at what was written there.

_Yotsuki Kirabi. Kumogakure._

"You fought Naruto?" Sasuke asked quietly,

She looked at him, "I'm in Akatsuki. Of course I've fought Naruto."

"You failed to retrieve his bijuu?"

"I wasn't ordered to. It wasn't the right time for the Kyuubi's sealing."

"Right. So that's why Madara's so pissed at you." Suigetsu said.

She chuckled. "It wasn't me he was annoyed with. He was using me as a scapegoat in order to get at Pein." She looked back at Sasuke, "Besides, you're one to talk. You've fought Naruto on plenty of occasions yet you still didn't kill him." She said, "We're in the same boat."

Sasuke's eyes flared into Sharingan. "You're nothing like me."

"You mean I'm not an emotionally backwards prick who thinks revenge is the be-all and end-all of life? Yeah, you're right, I'm not like you, and gladly."

"Whoa. I'm out of here." Suigetsu said suddenly, realising it was escalating into yet another argument. "Coming, Juugo?"

"Sure." The tall Ninja replied, and they both left. Karin however, stayed, evidently wanting to get the juicy bits of the argument.

After a few moments, Sasuke gave her a pointed glare causing her to huff dramatically and stalk out.

Once she was out of earshot, Sasuke stood, moved forwards and glared at Sakura. "Don't even pretend you understand my hate."

She chuckled darkly. "Oh, I'm not pretending, Sasuke."

He stared at her, and suddenly he saw it in her eyes. The anger. The pain. And yes, the hate.

But most of all the fact she was directing all three of these emotions right at him.

She moved closer to him, her Rin'negan eyes boring into his Sharingan.

"If I was one of them Elders that ordered the deaths of your family, not even _then_ would you understand how I feel being in the same room as you." She said, her eyes locked on his, the smirk gone from her features.

He smirked at her. "Then why are you in the same room as me? Why haven't you attacked me?"

"Because he _died _for you." She said. Sasuke's eyes softened momentarily. "He wanted death by your hands more than _anything_. Just to give you that Mangekyou."

"And you let him go to me."

"_Let _him?" She asked incredulously, "Come on, even _you_ know me better than that."

"Cry in an attempt to stop him, did you?" Sasuke asked mockingly.

"Yeah." She admitted, "I did… but I cried for him this time. Not for myself."

He stared at her, then sighed exasperatedly. "Why do you always try to get in my way? Even now."

Sakura sighed, "Wow, and I thought _I_ read into things too much." She turned away from him, and her voice lowered, "Your brother had his reasons for what he did. If you cared about him even a little, you wouldn't undo all that he had done."

"So you're still protecting Konoha?"

She looked back at him, "I wasn't talking about Konoha."

He blinked. "What I do with my life is none of your business. I told you that a long time ago."

"I loved your brother." She said, her voice not wavering for an instant, and Sasuke looked away, his eyes darkening, "Believe me... if I'd had a choice, I wouldn't. I'm sure you remember the days you hated Itachi with fondness... how everything is so simple when you did nothing but wish for his death. That was all he wanted for you. He took the pain on himself. You learnt from the first time, you got only pain out of your revenge. What makes you think that this time it'll be any different?"

She started to walk away, when Sasuke looked at her. "If you get in my way this time, I will kill you."

"If you can." She said, smirking back at him. His expression didn't change, if anything, his eyes grew darker. "You seem to forget, I've lost my family too. To make them pay, to make them feel the pain and anger that you've felt... you can't understand why I'm not on the same path as you."

"What you do with your life is of no-!"

"I know." She said, "But whether you like it or not, our paths are intertwined. Ours... and Naruto's. One of these days, we'll come up against him. You think you're ready for that?"

Sasuke stared at her, his eyebrows raised, "What do you think?"

She smirked. "Then what are we waiting for?"

They both walked outside, and Sakura gave her briefing.

"The Hachibi Jinchuuriki is situated in Kumogakure, north-northeast of our current position. Let's go." Sakura said quietly.

Almost immediately, and as one, they left.

Several minutes later, there was an audible groan.

"Can't we – slow down a bit-?"

"_No._"

--

That night, when they stopped to make camp, they were attacked twice by Hunter nin from Kumogakure. Both of these attacks were nullified in moments, taken care of, without any trouble whatsoever, by Sakura.

Sasuke watched, transfixed, as his old _and _new teammate quite literally blew apart each of the Hunter nin with no trouble whatsoever. The aura of her Chakra when she was fighting was palpable, it was both soft and hard at the same, loving yet vengeful, harsh yet comforting and because of all that struck you like a slap to the face. She was a living, breathing contradiction.

Her movements were alarmingly graceful, beautiful even in their execution. It was only because of his Sharingan that he could see each and every high-speed movement that she made.

Finally, she took out two of the nin on both sides, and then the final one with a clean strike to the face with her foot.

She settled back into her original pose and without looking at them, went back to her patch of ground to sleep, not fazed in the slightest. That, if nothing else, surprised him the most. He knew for a fact if the younger Sakura had done that, the one in Konoha, she would have immediately looked back at him for his approval.

This Sakura couldn't care less.

Within moments, she was asleep, while Team Hawk were awake, looking at each other and sweatdropping.

This woman, even half asleep, was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

The next night, when they were drawing near to Kumogakure, there were no attacks by Hunter nin, but nobody got much sleep.

Sakura had taken to sitting against a tree, her head turned upwards to look at the stars, waiting for exhaustion to claim her.

Karin, however, had her crimson eyes firmly planted on the swirls of the rival kunoichi from the patch of floor near the fire which she had claimed as her own. She couldn't help but note that Sasuke was becoming increasingly fixated with _her. _He seemed to have easily forgotten how she had quite literally knocked them out of her sight the last few times they had seen her, and how whenever they spoke together, she rebuked him.

But Karin wasn't one to forget so easily.

She watched with narrowed eyes as Sakura watched the stars, her eyes flicking from one side to another, as if she could see with those eyes of hers what no one else could. She _was _a force to be reckoned with, that she had no doubt.

But _pretty_?

Karin couldn't see what was pretty about her at all. Her hair was a ridiculous shade of salmon pink, her somewhat muscular figure was nothing to be proud of and _those __eyes_... those eyes were nothing short of disturbing.

She turned away, sighing in aggravation. She supposed there was no point looking for something she knew she would never be able to see. But still, being in her presence was nauseating.

Once Sakura's eyes flicked shut, Karin's eyes shut too, and she was soon asleep.

--

They arrived in Kumogakure shortly after entering the mountainous Land of Lightning, and it wasn't long before they found a solitary guard-Ninja.

"I'll handle him." Suigetsu said, a smirk lighting his features at the prospect of torturing someone for information.

The others watched as he attacked the unknowing Ninja head on.

After a brief scuffle, the Ninja was hit, then shoved back against the wire fence.

"So where's Yotsuki Kirabi? We'd like a little chat with him…"

"Don't underestimate our Clan." The Ninja said, "I'll tell you nothing!"

The Ninja gave a shout of pain as Suigetsu did something they couldn't see.

Sighing, Sasuke moved forwards, his eyes on the Ninja.

"A fearful heart can be exploited." He said calmly, and Sakura sensed his next move, and looked away, not wishing to see it in action by anyone other than Itachi.

It would only cause her pain.

"That's enough Suigetsu. Sasuke's illusion will do the trick." Karin said quietly.

Suigetsu huffed loudly.

Still not watching, Sakura waited.

"Tell me the location of Yotsuki Kirabi." Sasuke said quietly.

"He's… at Unraikyo… training…" Sakura stiffened as she heard the pained, harsh voice of the Ninja, it seemed unfair that he was suffering so much pain for simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"What does he look like?"

"Seven bladed sword… and two tattoos… one for… iron on his shoulder… and bull's horns on his left cheek…"

She heard the Ninja collapse, and Sakura forced herself to look.

"Let's go." Sasuke said quietly, but paused when Sakura didn't move an inch. He stared at her.

"So, where exactly _is_ Unraikyo?" She asked quietly, and Sasuke stiffened, while Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo sweatdropped, all thinking exactly the same thing.

_Not again._

"Sakura-!" Sasuke started angrily, when he was cut off.

"Eaaaast… the… valley." The Ninja grumbled before passing out.

Sakura glanced at the Ninja, then smirked, and headed East.

Sasuke glared after her. Irritated that she had made a fool of him once again.

--

Not long after, they arrived in the valley, and found the Jinchuuriki training, as the Ninja had told them.

"Yotsuki Kirabi." Sasuke said quietly, walking forwards.

The strongly-built Jinchuuriki stared back at them, and a dark smirk graced his features.

"What do we have here, yo?"

**(A/N) Don't forget to check out the Truth and Lies doujinshi if your interested XD (I'm rileyonline on there as well – BIG surprise lol)**

**Next Chapter: Yotsuki Kirabi **(Spoiler: "Who are you idiots? What do you want with Mr. Host... with the most?")


	21. Yotsuki Kirabi

**(A/N) Reviewers. I love you. Really. Even SasuSaku fans who are actually giving this story a chance… whilst trying to push me to make Itachi dead (which I've already cleared that he isn't so making him dead now would just be daft, ne?) and Sakura into getting with Sasuke (… did you READ the last chapter? It's not gonna happen, kiddies!)**

**Once again I changed the name of the Chapter, sorry! Otherwise this would have definitely been the longest chapter yet and would take EVEN LONGER than it already has.**

**Enjoy XD**

"What do we have here, yo?"

Sakura cocked an eyebrow at him, carefully eyeing the way he held his swords, looking for any break in his guard. When at first glance, she found none; she decided to look less closely at him, eyeing his pose as a whole. Incredulously, she realised he was one _big_ break.

The way he was standing for one, bent over with all of his swords in front of him, all of which appearing to levitate in mid air with the lack of grip he was placing on them, not exactly dangerous. He was eyeing them with a sideways glance, not appearing to give any thought to who they were, no knowledge of the bloodline limits, no considering of what their abilities were.

He was an open book of faults. A shield with holes in it… in fact, not a shield at all. Sakura couldn't restrain her flabbergasted expression.

As a Ninja, not having any guard up whatsoever was a sign of death-seeking, idiocy or some _serious_ delusion of confidence. To them, not being guarded was the exact equivalent of being naked.

Definitely not what Sakura had expected from a Jinchuuriki.

A wave of disappointment washed over her, before she realised that Kirabi must have already survived many attempts on his life. Noting this, she looked away from him to watch for Sasuke's next move.

"I'll capture him. Suigetsu, you take right, Juugo, left, Karin, watch my back."

_By doing that you've labelled Karin as the weak link._ She thought, looking sideways at the Jinchuuriki for any sign that he had noticed this. He however, only shifted his weight onto the other foot and a small smirk graced his features.

In that brief instant of silence, however she realised that Sasuke had completely disregarded her presence.

"So, you've gone for a formation for four people, when there are technically five." She said quietly,

"Do you want me to tell you what to do?" He asked, his eyes flicking sideways to look at her.

"No, but I think you should take into account that there is an extra Shinobi on your squad, therefore there are holes in your defence where there doesn't have to be."

"So fill the holes then." He said in a bored voice.

Her eyes narrowed in annoyance, and she deliberately looked back at Kirabi, and once again her emotionless expression switched to one of incredulity as she watched him place his swords back into their scabbards, pull out a notebook and start scribbling in it.

_Yet more openings._ She thought. _This is getting ridiculous._

It was then that Suigetsu took the opportunity to strike.

Sakura watched the exchange calmly, knowing that however idiotic this Jinchuuriki may be, he still housed a gargantuan beast inside him.

"Careful Suigetsu, they said not to kill him, remember." Juugo said quietly as an upheaval of debris clouded the area where the Jinchuuriki and now Suigetsu were.

Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _So naïve._

"It'll take more than that to kill a Jinchuuriki. A lot more." She said quietly, eyes twitching with migraine-induced pain as she thought of Naruto.

"Yeah? What makes you the expert?" Karin asked cattily.

"Well when you've worked alongside one for four years you tend to pick these things up." Sakura snapped, her tone a lot more vicious than what was called for, her hand going to her head.

_Stop thinking of Naruto. Stop thinking of Naruto. Stop thinking of Naruto... _She thought to herself in a mantra, struggling to break free of the pulsating migraine. Her eyes rested on the dust cloud that was both Suigetsu and Kirabi.

As the cloud of debris cleared, her eyes widened as she saw how he had stopped Suigetsu's sword with his hands.

"Don't interrupt my flow, yo!" Kirabi said, a comically hurt expression on his face, throwing both Suigetsu and his sword away from him. "You have no appreciation for artists at work."

Sakura sweatdropped as she thought of what a certain blonde Akatsuki's reaction would be to that.

"Stand aside, Suigetsu." Juugo said, and moments later, he launched his attack, his right arm enlarging into the grotesque Curse state, and they both disappeared once again in a cloud of debris.

Sakura waited, paying more attention now, watching the exchange between the two. His strikes, though they were few, were pointed. It was slowly becoming evident that Kirabi's confidence wasn't delusional at all.

He had dismissed two powerful attackers with no effort at all.

"Wh… What's with this weirdo? How could he beat Juugo?" Karin asked quietly.

"They were going too easy on him. If you don't aim to kill you _will _lose."

"Yeah? Well we don't have the advantage of being one of the bosses' kid sister if we accidentally kill this guy." Suigetsu muttered, causing a brief flash of pain to cross Sakura's usually cold features.

"That isn't an advantage. Trust me." She said, and a feeling similar to getting cold water tipped over her head followed, rippling across her brain. A disturbing reminder of his constant presence in her head. The others looked at her, and she chuckled. "What? You honestly believe that the guy who calls himself 'Pein' is all about the family love? Now that really _is_ naïve."

"Who are you idiots? What do you want with Mr. Host…" He switched into a somewhat ballerina-like pose that was disturbingly reminiscent of Gai and finished, "… with the most?"

Sakura, Karin, Juugo and Suigetsu all sweatdropped while Sasuke replied, "You don't need to know."

"This is ridiculous. Are you sure we've got the right guy?" Suigetsu asked, evidently unhappy that they were there in the first place.

"That is him. His Chakra is far too large for an ordinary Ninja." Sasuke deadpanned, a brief flicker of red in his eyes showing he'd used his Sharingan to check. He looked back at Suigetsu, "If you don't like what we're doing here, leave."

Suigetsu tensed, annoyed.

"I want to see if Madara will keep his side of the bargain."

Sakura rolled her eyes, irritated at his stupidity. She knew that if she told him how stupid he was, however, that it would only cause problems later on. This would be the only easy chance the Akatsuki had of obtaining the Eight-Tails. Why she was so bothered about the Akatsuki's goals, however, was still a mystery to her.

Whether it was by spite or some form of loyalty induced by blinding pain if she strayed, she remained silent.

"We're the one's using Akatsuki. Get that into your heads." He said coolly.

_Just like you were the one who was completely in control of everything leading up to Itachi's death. _She sighed inwardly. _You may be a born genius, but you never _really_ learn, do you Sasuke?_

Sakura glanced back at the other members of Team Hawk, all of whom appeared to be reassured by his statement. She noticed Karin smirking at her malevolently, and she sighed, knowing now that the statement had been a dig at her as well as reassurance to his teammates.

Her eyes once again locked on Kirabi, who she could now see was mulling over what Sasuke had just said. It was clear by his more serious expression that he'd heard of them.

"Just hurry and shut that idiot up then." Suigetsu said quietly,

"I intend to." Sasuke said, and in a smooth motion, he was holding his Kusanagi in his right hand.

_You'll learn. _Sakura thought as she watched him move forwards. _You have to_.

"Idiot? When I start boppin', you'll be the idiots. Bop, and your heads'll go _pop_."

Momentarily Sakura wondered whether his ridiculous rhymes were actually part of his jutsu. A way of molding the Hachibi's Chakra with his, without it harming him.

"He… he really pisses me off!" Karin said suddenly, "He's the worst rapper I've ever seen!"

Sakura was so fixated on him at that point that she noticed the barely visible twitch of his ear, and a slight flaring of his phenomenally large Chakra at that comment.

_Fragile pride, huh? _She thought.

She watched Sasuke launch forwards, aiming to strike Kirabi with his Kusanagi, which was immediately counterracted by one of Kirabi's own, which he held easily in the crook of his elbow while he continued to write.

_Incredible_. Sakura thought, her eyes widening as she watched his Chakra slide to wherever he needed it with a frightening amount of ease. _His Chakra control is better than mine._

She supposed the fact that she had grown so used to Naruto's not-so-great Chakra control was why she'd become stereotypical when it came to Jinchuuriki.

Kirabi ducked as Sasuke gripped his sword arm, releasing the Kusanagi and made a mad swing, evidently annoyed at Kirabi's overconfidence.

Finally however, as Sasuke managed to land a hit with his foot, Kirabi seemed to notice him.

"You know, I just thought of an awesome rhyme, thanks!" He said, "Now I'll play, idiot."

He threw each of his remaining swords in the air, and Sakura watched them fall, and watched him catch them.

Crooks of elbows. Left thigh. Teeth. Hands. Shoulder.

His pose seemed ridiculous... very ridiculous... and once again _very_ reminiscent of Gai, but for one with superb Chakra control, his seven blades made him incredibly dangerous.

"Now you gonna feel my hooks." He said coolly.

In seconds, he was on Sasuke like a rash. Managing to spin, flip and somersault his way without dropping a single sword.

Already Sasuke was having to rely on his Sharingan.

Suddenly it didn't look like _Kirabi _was the one who was overconfident. It was all about to become very dangerous, very quickly.

Swordwork was not a strong point of Sakura's, but she knew that Sasuke was out of his depth. One against seven in any situation were not good odds to come up against. It was only when Sasuke used the Chidori to make his sword unblockable that she saw an opening to stop him from doing himself any damage.

"Sasuke! The Chidori sword won't work against him!" She shouted, "His Chakra control is far too advanced for that! Use your Sharingan! He has no openi-!" She ducked as she realised Kirabi had instead decided to attack her. A hard thud to the side of her head and the sound of the blade whooshing far too near her left her realising she should have watched her _own_ openings.

Dazed, she somehow managed to flip herself away in time to prevent herself from being ripped to pieces by his swords.

Kirabi wasn't deterred however. It seemed he realised she had been watching him a _little_ too closely for his liking. She was irritated that she could only duck, dive and flip away from his speedy swordwheel of pursuit, but then she was completely _infuriated_ when the _bloody Uchiha _decided to ignore her warning.

"_Don't_!" She said as he struck Kirabi's sword with his own, his eyes widened, evidently surprised when it proved that Sakura was in fact, right.

Kirabi swung around with the full intention of impaling Sasuke with his swords. Desperately, she struck Kirabi's side with her foot, having no time to think she used her Medic Skills to slice at his muscles.

Immediately, he grunted and lurched away from her, not before his swords had stabbed, but not impaled Sasuke.

Sasuke was thrown backwards away from the Chakra imbued attack, something that Sakura recognised immediately.

"This'll finish you off!" Kirabi said, running after him.

_Dammit. That should have had at least slowed him down, but he's faster than before! _Sakura thought, following him.

Fortunately Suigetsu appeared above Sasuke before Kirabi got there, defending him with Zabuza's sword.

She took that moment to strike Kirabi full on with her Chakra, backhanding the side of his chest, sending him flying away from them with a sickening crunch.

Taking a moment to stare after him. She dropped down beside Sasuke, her hands quickly going to the swords, knowing that they wouldn't have much time before Kirabi was on them again.

She was preparing herself to heal him when she was abruptly knocked out of the way.

Her eyes widened with outrage as she saw Karin instead bending over him.

"What the _hell_-?"

"Bite me, Sasuke."

Sakura's retort was immediately cut off as she heard the comment and watched the redhead pull up her sleeve.

"Karin's a Medic too, only hers is quicker and less uhh… _clean_." Suigetsu explained, noting the revolted and irritated expression on Sakura's face.

"Quickly, bite!" Karin hissed, as Juugo quickly pulled the swords out of him.

Sasuke did in fact, bite her arm, and Karin let out a loud moan. Sakura's eyes noted the slipping of her Chakra into Sasuke, his wounds healing at a much faster rate than they would have done with the more conventional way.

Unable to suppress her revulsion and shuddering with clinical distaste, Sakura stood and scanned the area for Kirabi.

"Sakura DUCK!" A voice shouted suddenly.

Sakura twisted in surprise, just in time to see Kirabi's sword speeding towards her neck.

On gut instinct, she found herself disappearing in a wave of Sakura petals. Fortunately quickly enough to not feel the blade slice through her neck.

Standing behind Kirabi, her eyes narrowed.

_He has phenomenal Chakra control and can use Chakra flow. He shrugged my Medical attack as nothing. Added to that, he's got a Chakra beast inside him that can probably heal anything we throw at him._

_This guy…_

Her eyes went to her fists, which she brought up in front of her, her own Chakra flaring, pulsing at the idea that she wouldn't have to hold back. She'd have to stretch herself. The fact that he would, and had already been able to handle all of her attacks was practically _begging_ her to let loose with her strength.

Slowly, a smile formed on her lips.

_This guy's _mine.

**(A/N) ANNND THERE'S A CLIFFIE. Sorry! But the next chap will definitely be up sooner than this one.**

**Next Chapter: Bonds **(Spoiler: "Since when did a bull have Eight Tails?")


	22. Bonds I

**(A/N) Err… well… what can I say? It's been a while… D: LOL at my previous Author's Note, can I just say. 'The next Chapter will be up sooner than this one'. Sure, nearly six months is soon! Remind me to never leave an Author's Note saying that... ever XD**

**SOOOOOOO sorry for the wait guys (if your still reading this o_o;;)!!! My brain left the Naruto fandom for a while and refused to come back… if I had written this on time, trust me it would have been CRAP. Well, here goes… forgive me? Thank you so much for all the reviews ;) this is your reward… finally…**

**(Oh, and thanks goes to **Midnight Namine**... I dunno why but I kicked my ass into gear after they PM'd me XD And also this is also thanks to my mate Ryan, who won a Kiriban over on deviantart and asked me to update this X'D)**

**ENJOY!  
**

_Her eyes went to her fists, which she brought up in front of her, her own Chakra flaring, pulsing at the idea that she wouldn't have to hold back. She'd have to stretch herself. The fact that he would, and had already been able to handle all of her attacks was practically begging her to let loose with her strength._

_Slowly, a smile formed on her lips._

_This guy's _mine.

Karin winced horribly, her eyes widening as a crushing weight forced her towards the floor.

"What… the… _hell _is…?" She gasped.

Suigetsu and Juugo looked around at her with confused expressions, evidently not feeling what she had sensed. She supposed that was one of the downsides of having heightened sensory systems for Chakra. It left her _very_ vulnerable when it came to Chakra spikes.

Especially when she wasn't expecting one this _huge_.

Suigetsu looked back towards the stand off between the two Ninja, and his eyes focused on Sakura, whose eyes were focused, no, not focused… _locked_ on Kirabi's.

"This Chakra… it's _hers_…?" Karin gaped, her crimson eyes wide with both shock and not a small amount of jealousy. The idea of that undeniably… _weird_… kunoichi having Chakra of this monstrous strength… the kind of strength that could be felt for miles around… made her even more disturbing than she'd originally considered her to be.

Standing opposite Kirabi, Sakura's eyes flicked sideways to look at them, her lips in a thin white line. "Don't interfere."

Within seconds she vanished, a rush of Sakura petals left in her wake, appearing behind Kirabi, knowing that Kirabi would turn to search for her. It was only _natural_ after all.

There was a resounding _crack _as she struck his right side with her shin, sending him flying sideways, but markedly with much more strength than before.

On the floor beside Karin, Sasuke was struggling to get up, his Sharingan eyes watching the fight, mesmerised. Both of them were releasing Chakra to the extent that to his eyes, it was if they were surrounded in an electric blue cloud of energy. Each strike only adding to it's size.

"Karin. Are you all right?" He asked quietly, noting how drained she was after healing him.

"Yeah…" She replied panting, finally getting used to the weight of the Chakra.

Convinced, Sasuke made to stand up and go to attack Kirabi himself, but Juugo rested his hand on his shoulder, stopping him from moving.

"Don't interfere. Sakura's fighting on a whole other level now." Suigetsu said, mimicking Juugo's movement with words.

_What?_ Sasuke thought and then said aloud, "You can't be serious-!"

"She's not _that girl _any more, Sasuke." Karin said quietly, "Look at her…"

Suigetsu and Juugo blinked at Karin. Evidently they had missed something.

Sasuke's thoughts however, were flicking back to the brief conversation he'd had with Karin when he was rushing to save – rushing _to the Akatsuki base_.

"_Seriously, we're going straight into the lion's den, Sasuke. We should turn-!"_

"_I'm not turning back."_

"_Why?"_

_He didn't answer, but his features hardened as he fingered the Sakura petal he was holding in his fist. He noted how Karin noticed this slight movement and in his mind's eye, watched her expression change as she worked it out._

"_Her?" Karin's quiet, stunned voice, was enough to tell him his deductions were right. _

_So predictable._

"_She's in over her head," He said bluntly, "She'll get killed."_

_Karin stared at him. "Umm. You WERE there when she knocked all four of us out, right?"_

_Sasuke's teeth gritted momentarily as he remembered that. Forcing him to become paralysed and get captured by Naruto of all people… how embarrassing. Her lack of respect for his resolution to kill _Him_ was enough to make him entertain thoughts of releasing his Curse Mark State in front of her and showing her just how stupid she was for wronging him._

_But even with those thoughts… the moment he had seen the Sakura petal, he knew something was wrong. He felt it in his gut, a sensation so unbelievably strong it was enough to make his toes curl. Somehow, Sakura was in danger… and he had a sneaking suspicion that it was something to do with a certain person who had the same Sharingan eyes that he had._

_After all, it wasn't exactly against Itachi's nature to hurt people Sasuke cared about – however little or detached that care was._

"_She won't be able to fight off that man. She may be strong, but he…" –The darkest memories of his childhood, the stench of blood flooded his senses, his parents lifeless eyes– "_He _has experience." He finished bitterly._

_More thoughts flooded his mind of what Sakura could have endured at his brother's hands. The Tsukuyomi… Itachi's ability born from the Mangekyou Sharingan, hours upon hours, days upon days of endless torture._

"_But why are you helping her?" Karin asked, "I thought you didn't care about your old teammates?"_

_Sasuke sighed. "Old habits die hard."_

Sasuke blinked out of his recollections and watched Sakura and Kirabi. The force of their Chakra filled blows could have easily blown apart buildings with no trouble whatsoever, yet they both were still, somehow standing, fighting.

"It's blindingly obvious she doesn't need protecting. If we interfere it'll just cause problems." Suigetsu said.

Once again Sasuke found himself spellbound by the way this new Sakura held herself in battle. Not once did fear cross her features, as it had used to. The resolve was still there, but was nowhere near as weak as it used to be.

"… I don't think she needs protecting." Sasuke said quietly, his eyes now resting on her face, her expression showing that she was thoroughly enjoying the fight, "I think she'll need to be stopped."

Suigetsu blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Power is like a drug. It changes you. It… separates you from other people." He said, inwardly wincing, as he knew he was quoting his brother. "Sakura was always the one to be left behind, she was never physically strong, always had to be protected. She hated that… and now… it's the opposite. The thing that she loathed has gone."

Suigetsu looked over at Sakura, and suddenly found it incredibly difficult to believe the psycho bitch that had wiped out their group single-handedly numerous times had ever been weak. Not only was it unbelievable, it was also very… _very_ degrading.

"She never used to be that strong, huh?" He asked quietly, his left eyebrow starting to twitch in mild annoyance. _Always the ones with the freaky eyes that get the power boosts. Damn that's irritating._

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he remembered the Sakura he had known. The one who he had knocked out without batting an eyelid. "No."

Suddenly, all four members of Team Hawk were pulled out of their discussion as Kirabi made a loud, high-pitched squealing noise, holding his fist in the air.

"_WHEEEEEEEEEEE_!"

Immediately, the Chakra of the beast inside him started to spill out, surrounding him in a bubbling cocoon. The cocoon spiked at the back, sprouting, as Sasuke had assumed it would, tails.

Sakura, who had stopped, watching this new development, seemed to be utterly unsurprised. Instead, the Chakra surrounding her fists only intensified, creating a defensive layer, followed by an offensive layer.

_So she really has fought Naruto. _Sasuke thought blankly. The brutal, yet also sad determination on her face was what confirmed it.

… _Just what the hell happened to you Sakura?_

Sakura landed a blow on Kirabi that managed to send him flying backwards away from her, sending clouds of debris up into the air.

Instead of following Kirabi, as they had expected her to, she stopped abruptly. Her eye-level dropping to focus on her hands.

--

Sakura struggled not to wince as she fingered the burnt leather surrounding her equally burnt knuckles.

_This concentration of Chakra already? _She thought. _That's… that's even quicker than Naruto-!_

She let out a gasp of pain and her hands clamped on the sides of her head, an agonising reminder of Pein's restraints. _Dammit… can't I even think of… him in a battle… sense…?!_

"Sakura _move_!" Her eyes widened in horror as she heard Sasuke shouting at her, knowing what was about to come next.

Seconds before it would have hit, she performed a messy substitution jutsu with a nearby rock, appeared behind Kirabi, jumping into the air and pummelling him to the ground.

Sure, wasn't the most graceful of moves, but hey. It worked.

She jumped off him again, knowing if she stayed there for too long, her boots would be burnt through.

The shock of almost being mowed over, literally, was enough for her to forget all about her headache and focus on the battle at hand.

The trading of Chakra enhanced blows couldn't last for too long. No matter how powerful she had become, her levels of Chakra were _nothing_ in comparison to Kirabi's. If it was a test of Stamina, which is what their fight was turning out to be, he would win hands down.

She'd be playing right into his hands.

_Well_, she couldn't have that.

Abruptly, Team Hawk seemed to decide that they were going to interfere whether she liked it or not.

"What the hell was that?" Suigetsu asked her,

What happened next _wasn't_ what she expected.

Kirabi let out another 'Wheeeeee!' before slamming his fist into the ground.

Sakura's mouth fell open in shock. "That _copycat_!"

As she expected, Kirabi released a massive amount of Chakra into the ground from his fist. Instead of the fissures that usually occurred when Sakura did this, the effect of Kirabi's Chakra was something much more profound.

The ground beneath him rippled, and in seconds a wave of rocks similar to the size of a Tsunami erupted.

"_Holy-!_" Suigetsu cried, he, Karin and Juugo all leaping out of the way, while Sasuke and Sakura launched themselves into the air and over the wave of rocks.

Sakura couldn't help but watch the wave go, unable to prevent the wave of professional jealousy that washed over her. _Damn, he's good._

She swiftly turned back to see what was happening, and noted Sasuke stalking forwards and then stopping, his feet shoulder-width apart. Kirabi lunged forwards, and Sasuke's lack of moment was enough to tell her what he was going to do next.

Instinctively, Sakura focused on Kirabi, whose expression had changed to one of shock, and instead of attacking Sasuke as he had planned, he missed him completely and landed behind him.

Sakura let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding, and she walked forwards to Sasuke. _It worked._

In the corner of her eye, she saw one of the Chakra tails moving, and what happened next none of them could have predicted.

Sasuke was on the floor, and Sakura was being thrown backwards by Kirabi…

With a gaping hole in her chest.

**(A/N) Old habits die hard, eh?  
**

**Next Chapter: Bonds II**


	23. Bonds II

**(A/N) TOO LONG HAVE I LET IT FAIL. Roll on second chapter after five months *power pose***

**Those reviewers who have reviewed… uhh, yeah… OMG YOU REMEMBERED THIS STORY OF MINE. (Yes, I know about story alerts, WHUTEVARR, but the fact you still read it after so long and stiiiill review… GAWWWWWD I LOVE YOU ^_^) *cough* anyway. ENJOY!**

In the seconds that it took Sakura to realise Kirabi's fall to the ground was a ruse, words that Itachi had spoken awoke in her mind, clear as day.

"_Save him. Save my brother." Itachi murmured abruptly, causing Sakura's eyes to widen._

_That was quite possibly the most out of character thing she'd ever heard come out of Itachi's mouth. Right when they were sparring, as well._

"_What?" She gaped, unsure she'd heard him right._

_Seconds later, she hit the floor with an 'oof'. She groaned as she felt a certain person's weight pushing down upon her and firm hands holding her arms behind her back._

"_17 to 13. Your on a losing streak, kunoichi." Itachi said smoothly._

"That _hardly counts. You distracted me!" She snapped, wriggling beneath him._

"_Oh, so an opponent _won't_ try to distract you in a real fight?"_

_Bloody _Uchiha!_ She thought, inwardly seething._

_He leaned forwards, so his mouth was near her ear, as she continued to struggle beneath him. "I know you knew him… and I also know he meant a hell of a lot more to you than you let on." He said under his breath, and Sakura froze, "The time will come for you to prove that."_

"_Your seriously deluded… if you think _that _arrogant toerag means anything to me." She snarled, and he was thrown off her as she directed a Chakra pulse through her skin where he was holding her arms, causing his hands to break out in blisters._

_He jumped back. It was the first time she'd properly injured him, a clear sign that he'd hit a nerve, and a raw one at that._

"_Sure. I had a crush on him… but that's nothing special. Every young girl in Konoha had a thing about the dark, brooding boy with the duck-butt hairdo." She said, rolling her eyes as she remembered, "The majority of the catfights were started over him."_

"_So, what changed?"_

"_I grew up." She said simply, before launching another attack. "When he left for Sound… I tried to stop him…" She exchanged blows with Itachi easily, avoiding using jutsu's where possible, "He knocked me out and left me on a park bench."_

_Itachi stared at her, and she noted the barely perceivable smirk._

_Her eyes narrowed into slits and she struck the ground beneath them, sending him flying away from her._

"_17. 14." She said, then murmured dangerously, "Let me win out of pity again and forget sparring, I'll blow you into smithereens."_

_Itachi's smirk became far more prominent, "Sorry. Continue."_

_She glared at him, but let it drop as she continued. "What happened after that? He tried to break bonds with us on numerous occasions, constantly saying how we were nothing but baggage to him, baggage that stopped him from achieving his goal. Forget friends, forget memories, the only loyalty he held is 'to kill a certain someone'… etcetera." She said sighing, "I'm many things… but I'm not an idiot. Naruto will never let go of bringing Sasuke back, but I had to, otherwise I wouldn't move on."_

"_So to get over him, you had to hate him. That it?"_

"_It's far easier to hate someone than to love them… you of all people should know that." Sakura said, her eyes glinting._

"_Hn." Itachi concurred, "Somehow… I don't think your hate for Sasuke will hold out."_

_Sakura stared at him._

"_It only takes a word about him and your visibly bristling. That means you care… even if that care _is _deep down."_

"_Lies."_

"_It may seem like a lie… but the only reason Sasuke loathes me as much as he does, though he'll never admit it, is because I was once the most important person in the world to him…" He said simply, "A harsh truth to accept, but an honest one."_

_Sakura glared at him._

"_The day will come when you will save Sasuke's life… and you'll do it because it's the only closure you can have."_

"Dammit… _dammit…_" Sakura hissed, her eyes squeezing shut, and she ran at Sasuke, her arms outstretched, shoving him away from harm - seconds before Kirabi's attack shattered her chest.

She hit the floor and black spots burst into life in front of her eyes, clouding her vision as the agonising pain that came along with the injury made itself known.

_Dammit… dammit…_ She thought, knowing that this sort of injury was fatal._ Is _this_ what you meant by closure, Itachi? Having my chest _literally _blown open for him to _witness_?_

She gave a shout of pain as the breeze that shrouded the gorge decided to blow in her direction, causing the wound to sear. She rolled onto her side, making her back serve as a wind-block. Hissing at the effort, she held her shaking right hand in front of her chest, pouring cooling Medical Chakra into her wound. The monumental effort required to do so however was making her accuracy far less than sufficient.

All she was managing to do was dull the pain.

If she didn't think of something… _anything_… fast… she wouldn't last the fight.

_No… there's no way you could have meant this… if you were so convinced that I still cared about Sasuke… why did you… let me get close to you?_

Her eyes glazed over, and questions that she'd buried inside herself made themselves known as she started to, unwillingly, slip into unconsciousness.

_Was everything an act…? To get me to save Sasuke…?_

--

Sasuke forced himself up off the floor, _more _than ready to reprimand Sakura for shoving him so abruptly, when his nose once again caught the tinny, rank stench of blood.

A _lot_ of blood.

He looked around, the clouds of debris circulating the air making visibility low.

_That smell… where's it coming from?_

As if on cue, a cry of pain echoed from the far left, and his eyes widened, a breeze from that direction carrying a much stronger scent of blood with it. He covered his nose with his hand and stood up.

_I recognise that sound…_ He thought, as he rushed in the direction of where the cry had come from. _But that means…_

Abruptly, he stopped, his eyes widening in stumped shock as he fixedly refused to believe what he saw in front of him.

Sakura, the weakling turned powerful-bitch-from-hell from Akatsuki… lying there soaked in her own blood with gaping hole in her chest. His hand moved to his mouth as he realised he could see moving organs in said cavity.

_She… knocked me out of the way…_ he thought, _why the hell… why the hell did she do that?!_

Frozen from head to foot, he watched her roll onto her side, visibly shaking from the effort, and hold her right hand in front of her injury, struggling to heal the utter _mess _that was once her chest.

"Wh… What?" He breathed, unrestrained disbelief shrouding his features as he watched her struggle to remain conscious.

"That's quite a girl you got there. Seems she's more idiotic than the colour of her _hair_." Kirabi said suddenly from somewhere nearby, momentarily docile due to witnessing something above camaraderie between his enemies.

Something within Sasuke snapped at that comment, and suddenly his main objective was to kill Kirabi for what he'd done. Screw Akatsuki. Screw whatever power Madara would give him. Screw Konoha's Elders. This _man_ was going to _pay_.

He ripped his Kusanagi sword from its sheath, the Chidori running along it, and he fearlessly struck Kirabi. The red of his Sharingan seeming more prominent than ever.

"Karin! Juugo! Suigetsu!" He shouted, hoping they wouldn't hear the slightest of shakes in his voice.

Within moments, Suigetsu joined him, and they both attacked Kirabi from either side.

Karin and Juugo on the other hand, took the initiative and were making their way to the fallen kunoichi.

Karin, markedly, at a noticeably slow pace.

Sasuke saw this in the corner of his eye, and he left Suigetsu and Kirabi momentarily to stare intently at her. "Karin. She saved my life."

Karin blinked at him, her eyes wide.

_Please._ Sasuke thought. _Help her._

Karin's eyes softened momentarily, then hardened again, "Ugh! Fine!"

Sasuke smirked. _Thank you_.

"Sasuke!" Suigetsu shouted.

Sasuke rejoined the fight against Kirabi as Karin ran to Sakura.

"Sakura, are you all right?" Juugo was asking as Karin arrived beside them.

Sakura didn't answer, all her strength was being used to attempt to maintain consciousness. It took her several moments to notice a slim, scarred arm shoved in front of her face.

"Bite." A voice said, bitterly. "Use my Chakra. Heal yourself."

Sakura looked sideways to see Karin kneeling near her. A look of blatant shock on her features.

"You don't… have enough… Chakra left…" She forced out, after a few moments.

Karin's eyes narrowed into slits. "Look _pinky_ I don't _particularly _want you to bite me either, just… take it as a thank you. For saving Sasuke-sama."

Sakura looked away, and Karin's eyes widened.

"It'd kill you…" She said gasping, "These wounds… are far more severe than Sasuke's were… if you healed me now… it'd drain your Chakra to zero… it'd be difficult to heal even if you were at a hundred percent…"

Karin stared at her, then said, "_If you don't bite_ Sasuke will-!"

"I have an idea." Juugo murmured, cutting her off, "But it'll require both of us."

Karin blinked at him.

"I can give her some of my body mass, but I don't know whether she's compatible with the Curse Seal or not… it could go either way." He said, "If it goes the wrong way and her body rejects my body mass… she'll have to use your Chakra to keep her alive."

Karin stared at him, then looked at Sakura, whose eyes were slowly become less and less focused.

"Doesn't look like we have a choice. She's not even conscious enough to bite me now." Karin muttered.

"Right." Juugo said, and moved behind Sakura, "Sorry… this'll hurt." He rolled her onto her back, and she gave a cry of pain, and passed out completely.

Both Juugo and Karin sweatdropped. Both of them thinking variations of the same phrase: _not good._

Then Juugo moved his hand forwards. He looked up at Karin, "Ready?"

She nodded, a small bead of sweat making its way down the right side of her face.

Juugo's hand malformed into it's curse state, seeming somewhat like an octopus leg, and dribbled onto Sakura's chest, until it appeared as if they were both a single entity, joined by the arm and chest.

Lengthy moments passed where nothing happened save the skin merging with Sakura, filling in the hole, and them waiting with bated breath for what was to come next.

--

Sakura's mind was a haze, a multitude of black, flashes of white, painful, glazed memories of people, places, moments that she'd long pushed aside.

Memories from her childhood, memories of her parents, her friends, her enemies, her teachers … all flashed in front of her. She found herself wondering, blankly, whether this was what it was like to die.

Was she dying? These memories would have caused her pain if she was alive, she knew that much. She'd be registering them on a much deeper level, feel them burn her to her very core as she would remember the smiling face of that idiotic blonde twist into the terrifyingly heartless glare of a beast.

Strange how that idiotic blonde's name seemed to slip away from her now, yet he was one of those most prominent in all of her memories. The one with the biggest smile she'd ever seen, hiding so much pain behind a forced laugh, bright eyes and a cheerful grin. The one she'd relied on the most.

Next was one with raven-hair and eyes of the deepest onyx, one that she once looked at with reverance and more than like, before a twist of fate distorted his visage into hellish oblivion in her mind's eye. An oblivion that she was unable to follow him into, no matter how much she had once wished it. Once again, this person's name seemed to slip past her, leaving her for good as easily as footprints in the sand disappeared when they met the tide.

The final face, however… the memories he brought up were nothing special. Sure there was a kiss in there, but what was the meaning behind that other than to stir up somebody else's rage?

Blazing red eyes, the slightest quirk of the lips that gave away a hidden smirk. Nothing special.

And yet… she remembered his name, as clearly as if it were branded on the back of her hand. _Uchiha Itachi_.

Why _was_ that? Her memories of him paled in comparison to those of the nameless, contradictory duo that evidently meant so much to her. And yet, this was the name she remembered.

_Uchiha Itachi._ Was it the fact that the words flowed together like a wave? A simple roll of the tongue? Was it the fact there was an alliteration hidden in the middle of them that made them so memorable?

_No_. A voice whispered to her.

_What then?_

_The slightest touch… his breath against your skin… the eyes that didn't just look, they smouldered with their intensity… his mouth against your lips… his hands caressing your waist…_

Each memory of him suddenly started to register. Not only register, echo with their greatness.

Uchiha Itachi. The murderer, the brother, the ninja… and her lover.

The only one who's name she couldn't forget.

Slowly, her senses started to return to her.

First, hearing. She could hear noises of a distant battle, the telltale wheezing that she knew was her own breath, a panicked voice.

Second, smell and taste. The stench of sweat was so strong she felt as if it singed her nose, followed by the dull odor of blood, a sickly sweet perfume, all that she could taste on her tongue.

Third, touch. She felt as if she were vibrating, an energy that seemed to come out of nowhere was pulsing through her body. She felt the grit beneath the burnt holes in her gloves, inwardly noting its consistency, and knowing from her training just how much Chakra would need to be inputted to get it to explode in a suitable manner.

Finally. Sight.

She opened her eyes, squinting as they registered clouds of dust circulating above her.

"Sakura?" A voice asked.

As soon as she heard her name, she snapped out of her reverie as memories of the battle at hand came rushing back to her. She sat up too quickly and blacked out momentarily, but didn't move, adamant at staying upright.

Memories of why she was in the floor in the first place returned to her, and she looked down at her chest.

She found it easy to repress a squeak as she realised how startlingly low-cut her top had become, as she noted the skin that most definitely _was not_ hers at her breastbone.

She looked around, finally looking at the person who had spoken. Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the person sitting there.

"J… Juugo?" She asked, her voice hoarse. Juugo seemed to have lost about ten years. Literally. His rounder features, his evident drop in height, how his clothes seemed to swamp him…

She wondered what had happened, then her hand slapped against her chest, and she gaped at him.

"You… did this?" She asked, stunned, "Why?"

"Cos Sasuke would have killed us if we didn't." Another voice muttered.

She looked ahead of her again, and finally noted the redhead lying on her back, one arm covering her eyes, her glasses pushed up onto her head.

"Karin?"

"No. Your mother. Yes, Karin." She snapped, moving her arm momentarily to half squint half glare up at her. "Why the hell did you have to save Sasuke and be a martyr? That's my job and you stole it from me!"

Sakura sweatdropped, then watched as Karin heaved in breaths. It was then she noticed how pale Karin was.

"Are you all right?"

"Just peachy, no thanks to you. It seems Juugo's quick-fix almost cost us both our lives." Karin growled, "That's the _last_ time I agree to heal _you_."

Sakura blinked, then her eyes softened, a sudden warmth building where they'd healed her. "Thank you… both of you…"

"Ugh, save it, please. I want to forget it ever happened." Karin muttered, while Juugo nodded his assent.

Sakura stood up, closing her cloak at the top to cover her bare chest. Her eyes focused on the field ahead, where she could see Sasuke and Suigetsu battling a now five-tailed Kirabi.

_Time to return the favour._

**(A/N) And I have nothing interesting to say. Quite proud of this chapter ^_^ let me know what you think, k guys?**

**Next Chapter: New Light**


	24. Authors Note SPOILER PIC

**(A/N) Hi everyone! Just got back off holiday and Im still in the middle of writing the latest chapter sooo while you guys are waiting I've drawn a spoiler picture for an upcoming chapter (involving Itachi XD). So if your interested, it is HERE --rileyonline(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Itachi-and-Sasuke-Forgive-Me-132637159--**

**Hope you enjoy ^_^ next chapter will be up by the end of the week ^_^  
**

**~ Riley**


	25. New Light

**(A/N) Since one of the reviewers requested it, I decided to put a basic summary of what's happening in the story atm, just in case some of you are lost thanks to my letting it fail for months and then letting it fail again for more months O_o…**

**Team Hawk joined forces with Akatsuki, and are now helping them retrieve the final two Jinchuuriki (i.e. same as the Manga) but with one difference. Sakura's with them. Sakura's still grieving Itachi, who was similar to a mentor for her while she was in Akatsuki and can't help but blame Sasuke for his death, causing friction between the two. When Sasuke's life is put on the line however, Sakura knows that Itachi died for him, and therefore puts her own life on the line to save his. Thanks to this, Sasuke instructs Juugo and Karin to save her life, as a thank you for saving his. Sakura is now healed thanks to Juugo and Karin and is rejoining the fight against Kirabi. With a new team ethic, I guess XD**

**Hope this helped! Enjoy this epic long chapter, hope you'll forgive me for the wait~!**

There was a loud crack signalling the break of air pressure as both Sasuke and Suigetsu managed to strike the Chakra-fuelled Jinchuuriki. Kirabi was thrown away from them both, moments later making a deafening rumble similar to that of thunder as he struck the mountainside.

"We don't have much time… three more tails and we'll be fighting the Hachibi." Sasuke said quietly.

"Man… what a pain…" Suigetsu groaned, stretching.

"You don't _have_ to be here, you know."

"And miss a battle like this? Not in…!" Suigetsu stopped and both he and Sasuke turned to look at the girl standing behind them.

She moved further forwards, standing between them.

"That was a quick recovery." Suigetsu said, his eyebrow twitching again, while Sasuke remained silent, his expression unreadable, a crease forming between his brows as his Sharingan scanned her.

Sasuke looked around, eyes now searching the area around Kirabi.

"You might want to cover your ears." Sakura said, now moving her hands up to cover her own. "I've got a feeling this attack is going to be _loud_."

"Huh?"

Finally, Sasuke found what he was looking for, and very uncharacteristically, his jaw fell open to form a small 'o'.

The _real _Sakura was standing at the top of the rockface, and even from where he was standing, Sasuke could see the flare of Chakra she was building in her fist.

His eyes widened further when he realised what she was about to do.

She plunged her fist down into the mountain. Fissures exploded in the rockface around her and moments later, almost in slow motion, house-sized rocks began to fall downwards onto the Hachibi, and continued to roll towards them.

"Oh _sh-_!" Suigetsu gasped as both he and Sasuke used their Chakra to leap backwards as Sakura's Clone poofed out of existence.

The ground beneath them shook when each house-sized rock struck it, and Team Hawk were pretty much convinced that there was no way in hell Kirabi could have survived that. Even if he was a Chakra beast container, there was no way it could heal a crushed body.

After the rumble of rocks finally died down, Sakura, who had balanced herself with her Chakra on top, jumped down, and flipped off the pile, and ran towards them.

Moments later, she jumped again just as the rocks exploded outwards, revealing the Hachibi in all it's glory.

She landed on the ground lightly enough, but her Chakra, which she had kept fixated on her feet, had now released and caused cracks in the ground.

She sighed.

_Oops._

She was also regretting stopping there in the first place, because now she was directly in the Eight-Tails' eyeline. Sure, she'd twisted in mid-air and landed without falling flat on her face, but the point still stood that there was now a giant behemoth of a Chakra Beast in front of her, eyes fixed, yes, _fixed_, on her, with an aura palpable enough to make even Zetsu wet himself, and she'd made no attempt whatsoever to launch a sneak attack or hide after she'd quite literally dropped a mountain of rocks on it.

Her eyes narrowed. _Oh well. Old fashioned pummel it until it bleeds way?_ She eyed each side of it, wondering where to begin. _Okay… I don't think the old fashioned way will work. _She thought_. Come on, Sakura. Think._

_Mountain didn't work. Any other jutsu probably won't work… I'm running out of Chakra._

She looked sideways at Sasuke, Suigetsu, Juugo and Karin, all of whom looked exhausted in one way or another. Sasuke, still weakened from the injury that Karin healed, Suigetsu… that bloody sword, Juugo… well, Juugo was minature, and Karin was exhausted after her creepy definitely-not-erotic-AT-ALL medical jutsu.

Whatever it was about what she saw, whether she'd just snapped, or whether some instinct was driving her to it… _Inner Sakura _took control of her voice.

"Since when did a bull have eight tails?" She asked out loud, twisting abruptly to stare at the Hachibi, surprising all of them.

Karin, Suigetsu, Juugo and even Sasuke all turned to look at her, eyes wide and mouths agape.

But Inner Sakura was far from finished.

"To be honest I prefer the one tail, and the fact that they're a lot smaller than you. Do you do that charge thing or do you just blast people with your Chakra? Why take on the form of a bull if you don't charge? Seriously?"

Whatever sanity remained found its way into her head, and wrestled with the babble. _MOUTH. STOP. MOVING._

The Hachibi appeared to be utterly lost for words, staring at her. Team Hawk were in various stages of utter disbelief, thoughts ranging from 'I'm seriously going to kill you' to 'what the hell are you doing' and even an 'oh crap she's lost it'.

The wayward brain of Sakura had now taken to muttering to itself, having given up the fight against Inner Sakura. _I'm so dead. I'm gone._

"Do you stomp? Do you run if you see red? Oh look, I'm wearing red, so are they, haha! RED!"

Moments later, Inner Sakura's very much out loud questioning worked its vile way, and Sakura repressed a high-pitched squeak as the Hachibi proved it could in fact, charge.

"_Shiiiit!_" She gasped, and too scared to move, purely on instinct, she threw her right hand out in front of her. What happened next was definitely _not_ what she'd expected.

The Hachibi… was thrown away from her like it weighed less than a rag doll.

She watched it fly away from her as if in slow motion, her eyes widening as she saw the stream of Chakra blasting out from her hand.

The large explosion as it reached the other end of the gorge was deafening, rumbling under their feet.

She looked back at Team Hawk, who were once again staring, gobsmacked, but now in the wake of the repelled Hachibi.

"H… How the _hell_?!" Karin asked, voicing all their thoughts.

Sakura looked back at them, then looked at her already burnt hand, which was convulsing painfully from the Chakra pressure she'd unwittingly forced upon it. After a few moments, she remembered witnessing something similar occur the last time she'd seen Pein.

_She watched as Suigetsu launched across the table, ready to carve Kisame's head in two, when suddenly he seemed to lose control of it, and Pein was holding his hand up._

_Sakura's eyes widened. With them she had seen the minimal amount of Chakra that Pein had used to repel the sword, similar to a shift in magnetic force, causing the sword to refuse to go any further._

She blinked and held her twitching, damaged hand against her chest, trying, in vain, to stop it cramping.

Her eyes focused on the floor and she found a rock, she held out her left hand this time to see if she could repel it, but nothing happened.

_How the hell…?_ She thought.

"Looks like that was instinct…" She muttered out loud, "We can't rely on it."

She looked sideways at Sasuke, whose Sharingan eyes were fixed on hers. He moved forwards and moved his hand out. Her eyes widened in shock. _Can he…?_

Her eyes shifted quickly to the rock, to see if he had in fact copied it.

Again, nothing happened.

He cocked an eyebrow, slight irritation passing through his features.

Sakura suddenly found herself having to suppress a cocky smirk. _Rin'negan 1, Mangekyou Sharingan 0._ She shook herself out of it and her eyes focused on the cloud of debris where the Hachibi was.

"Looks like I have no choice…" Sasuke murmured, "We can't go on like this for much longer…"

She blinked at him, "You're not going to try the Tsukuyomi again-?"

"No. I'm not." He paused suddenly though as the debris shifted, spinning away from the Hachibi, which was now standing up, a gigantic ball of Chakra forming just in front of its mouth.

"Oh _no_." Sakura whispered, recognising it from when she had fought Naruto.

"Looks like it's my turn to put my life on the line." Suigetsu muttered abruptly, and his form literally vanished into a wave, moving forwards to the Hachibi at a fearsome pace.

Sakura's eyes widened, "What the hell are you doing?! If that thing gets you, you'll be obliterated!" He didn't answer, already out of earshot, and she muttered, "_Shit._" Then she too rushed forwards.

She didn't honestly know what she was going to do when she got there, or why she felt a sudden need to defend Suigetsu of all people.

Moments later she realised she wasn't the only one who had followed after Suigetsu. Her eyes widened briefly as she saw Sasuke run up beside her.

"What are you-?"

"I'm taking your word for it." He said simply, "Suigetsu is a valuable asset to my team. Besides… I owe him one for not letting him attack Kisame."

She nodded, then focused on the Hachibi.

She herself didn't owe Suigetsu one. She didn't like to think that she owed any of them anything, although she knew Karin and Juugo had saved her from near death. Whatever it was… she didn't like the idea of seeing any of Sasuke's team die in front of her.

_Double shit._ She thought as she considered this. _I got taken in, again._

"Suigetsu! MOVE!" Sasuke shouted suddenly, but he didn't answer. The wave now swirling around the Hachibi in a vain attempt to drown it.

As expected, the wave exploded outwards, as the Hachibi used its tails to knock it away from it.

The wave fell backwards and shrunk, leaving an unconscious, partially solid Suigetsu in its place.

"That _idiot_!" Karin shouted behind them, moments before Sasuke used the other attack in his arsenal.

Within seconds the Hachibi was being smothered by a blaze of shocking, pitch black flames. In the same instant, distracting herself from the horrific sight, Sakura rushed forwards to get Suigetsu out of the way, making sure not to break into Sasuke's eyeline. She manoeuvred her hands under him, struggling to keep hold of him in his partially liquid state.

She found herself completely unable to pull him away when the Hachibi started screeching in agony. It was the screech of many men burning at the stake, nothing more than a plea for survival, a plea for mercy from the agony.

A small part of her brain was trying, in vain, to tell her that if this was the other way round and she was burning to death, neither the Hachibi nor it's Jinchuuriki would care less. The majority however was being strangled by her medic– her _human_ instinct to make the pain stop.

"Sakura! Get out of there!"

She blinked, hearing the voices of the members of Team Hawk, and for that brief instant her own instinct for survival got her moving, dragging Suigetsu along with her. All the while, the shrieking continued.

Once out of danger, she placed Suigetsu on the floor, her eyes finding the blaze again as if held there by glue. Her heart clenched as she watched the horrific sight.

_Sakura-chaaan_!

"Ugh!" She gasped, clutching her head as a raging headache overcame her.

_I'm gonna get Sasuke back for you, dattebayo! Just watch me!_

_That _voice_…_ She thought, _But why…?_

Her eyes found the Hachibi once more, and her eyes burned as she realised why.

_Those bastards want to _kill_ me, Sakura!_

She started to tremble, her knees buckling, her eyes still on the horrific sight as both it and her memories started to choke her.

_Naruto…_

The mammoth shrieks were finally replaced by a sound desperately, heartwrenchingly human.

_Forgive me… Naruto… forgive me…_

She forced herself to remain standing, forced herself to watch. She had to see this, she had to feel what she was doing. Naruto's voice was the lifeline to her reason. It allowed her to question just what she was doing, just why she was helping the Akatsuki. 'Headache' be damned.

Yotsuki Kirabi was being burned to death for the simple reason his village saw fit to turn him into a Jinchuuriki. He was not at fault, he was not guilty, and he definitely didn't deserve it.

_He had a family. A clan. _Sakura thought. _We stole him from them._

The scent of burning flesh was what struck her senses next, and even as she thought her head was going to implode from the pain, she deliberately inhaled it.

_None of them deserved this._

She looked over at Sasuke, whose onyx eyes were glazed, his face covered in bloody tears. She wondered if that same, dead expression was mirrored on her own face. She looked at Karin and Juugo, both of whom were avoiding looking at each other. They'd seen death before, and it struck her that they both may have been used to graphic deaths after being under Orochimaru.

Sakura bowed her head, remembering the other person she'd killed. Orochimaru, broken, demented, half-insane… she caused him to explode from the inside out. Watching the flesh fly back then was nothing in comparison to this… this endless, desperate screaming…

Finally. It stopped. The screams were replaced by a choked death rattle, and the only sound that was left was that of the ever-burning Amaterasu.

"What… have we…?" Karin choked suddenly, "What have we _done_?"

Sakura realised what she meant by that the second she said it. They had killed a bijuu, and it's Jinchuuriki. They'd betrayed Akatsuki. Betrayed their villages. No matter where they went now, they were dead men walking.

"We did what we had to." Sasuke said, his tone dead, "Self-defence. Time to go."

Sakura silently agreed, forcing herself to stand, moving to take Suigetsu, but a hand reached out and stopped her.

She looked sideways to see Juugo standing there. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments, and in that second, she thought she had truly seen him for the first time. She wondered how his eyes could hold so much guilt, wondered whether it was possible for the emotion itself to be his sight. He didn't want to be free, didn't want to worry about potentially murdering someone because of his ghastly other half, yet there he was. There because then, just maybe, he could be distracted from his remorse.

She bowed her head as he picked up Suigetsu and put him over his shoulder, knowing that _this_ freedom wasn't what he'd had in mind.

"Where are we going?" Karin asked.

"Away." Sasuke answered quietly.

"We can't go back." Sakura said finally, her mouth dry and her tone surprisingly blasé. "They'll kill us."

"Us, not you." Karin muttered,

"Wrong. I am a pawn to them… nothing more." She said flatly, Karin was evidently too exhausted to say anything else, so Sakura changed the subject, "We need to get out of here, quickly. The Kumo nin will be on our tails."

"Right." Sasuke nodded, "Let's go."

Doing the only thing they thought possible at that moment, they fled, leaving the ever-burning Amaterasu flames behind them.

--

As soon as they escaped Kumogakure country, they slowed down; unable to continue at the same pace they had been, even though they knew this decision would probably mean their death.

Stumbling along in silence, each of them contemplating just what went so wrong, what led them to these paths.

Sasuke, stubborn as ever, knew he wouldn't have chosen any other route. He inwardly contemplated what Itachi would be thinking if he saw him now, though no answers came to mind. Itachi had failed in his quest to make Sasuke the hero of Konoha. Sasuke had both succeeded and failed in his quest to avenge his Clan, and now he was going to fail in his quest to avenge his brother. But for the first time since he had set out on his path of Revenge, he couldn't seem to care. If he was going to die, he would be with them all once more.

Karin was going to die by the side of the man she loved, although she'd always wanted more, she decided it wasn't too bad, at least no other woman could have him that way.

Juugo who had searched only for redemption, was going to be released from his endless quest by dying. He'd had a taste of freedom at Sasuke's side, and he would be forever grateful to him for that, just as he was grateful to Kimimaro. He also decided death wouldn't be too bad.

Sakura, on the other hand… Sakura's thoughts were only of Konoha, of her brother, of her dead mother. When she contemplated death, she thought of Itachi. When she thought of Itachi, she thought of his willing sacrifice to save Sasuke, he died for his brother. If she died now, if _Sasuke _died now, would his sacrifice be in vain? If she was going to die, she was going to fight until her last breath to at least make sure Sasuke lived longer than she did.

She stopped walking abruptly as she felt a Chakra she recognised, a Chakra she hadn't felt for weeks, coming straight towards them.

All of them stared in utter disbelief and pain as they saw the person blocking their path. Juugo and Karin were suffering the effects of Chakra depletion, Sakura and Sasuke were recovering from their injuries _and_ Chakra depletion, and Suigetsu was still unconscious.

Sakura's eyes darkened.

"Deidara." She greeted, "What are you doing here?"

His dark-rimmed eyes focused on her, but he said nothing, his blonde hair was blowing in his face, but his eyes never left hers. He continued to walk towards them, whilst removing the shirt he was wearing.

"Deidara…" She started; she didn't like the look in his eyes. The last time she'd seen that look was when she'd blown Orochimaru to bits.

"I've got a score to settle, yeah." His eyes flicked to Sasuke, "The fact you survived my Masterpiece is an embarrassment to my Art, yeah."

Sakura closed her eyes. _This is it._ "So… you're going to have a retry… and kill us."

Sasuke's teeth gritted, his wide eyes flicking between onyx and Sharingan, staring at Deidara.

"The Clone wasn't enough… nowhere near enough, yeah… that explosion was… weak…"

Sakura looked sideways at Sasuke, who was struggling to use his Sharingan, but his Chakra was far too depleted for it to work well enough…

Karin and Juugo looked exhausted, Suigetsu was as useful as a bag of rocks…

They were sitting ducks.

"What happened to you?" Sakura asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I left Akatsuki." He replied, his eyes rooted on Sasuke. "I felt free… for the first time in a long while I felt _free_, yeah. An artist to do whatever I wanted."

Sakura's teeth gritted, "Then _why_?"

"At least… that's what I thought." His eyes suddenly left Sasuke and focused on Sakura instead. "But your brother _did _something."

She blinked, not expecting this.

"He used some sort of _jutsu_ on me and now… now I'm anything but free, yeah." Deidara said, wincing, his fingers going to his head, the tongue in his hand twitching with the pain.

Sakura bowed her head, suddenly finding a brief surge of empathy for the man in front of her.

"If I knew how to remove it… I would… but I can't. He's done the same to me." She said quietly. His eyes softened only slightly, but still managed to maintain their mania.

"And that would have been your saving grace, yeah. But no. I have to follow orders, yeah… otherwise it…"

"Hurts." Sakura finished for him, then faintly suggested, "I can numb the pain…"

"I don't want the pain to be _numbed_, I want it to be gone, yeah. There's only one way to do that… no hard feelings, kunoichi."

She glared at him.

"'Sasuke is too much of a liability.' Direct quote from the horse's mouth, but what would really bite him in the ass… blow his little sister to smithereens… and I won't be around for him to have his revenge, yeah."

She struggled not to shout at him, knowing it would only provoke him further. "You know it wouldn't affect him if I died–"

"Still gotta follow the order, yeah."

"Find a loophole."

"Think about going back to Konoha and _then_ tell me to find a loophole, yeah."

Sakura winced as she unwillingly did as he asked. She shook her head, sheer irritation taking over her empathy, "Then set _when_ you'll kill us then! It doesn't have to be today!"

"Screw that, kunoichi. I'm not spending years with that bastard's noose around my neck, yeah."

"So you're just gonna kill me because you _think_ it'll upset him?! I thought you'd _left _Akatsuki!"

"Trust me… if I had any other choice-!"

"You do have a choice, Deidara. Blow yourself up or DON'T blow yourself up." She said, "I've dealt with his jutsu for _weeks_ why can't you?"

"Because I'm not _like_ you, yeah." He snapped, "I'm nobody's puppet. Not even for a _second_, got it?"

Sakura's eyes narrowed, "And I am?"

Deidara rolled his eyes, "Think about your life since you left the Leaf. In fact, think about your life _in_ the Leaf, yeah."

Sakura winced again, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh use your _brain_, yeah. Why the hell would Danzou target your family just because you had the Rin'negan, hmm? Wouldn't that make you an _asset_ to the Leaf Village? A _weapon_, yeah? Why would _Danzou_, the warmongerer, leader of the Leaf ANBU do everything in his power to get a _weapon_ to leave the village?"

Sakura froze as she considered this.

"You've been a puppet from the _second_ those eyes awakened, yeah."

"Danzou was… he was mad… he…"

"And who do you think _drove_ him mad, yeah?"

"Drove him… mad…?" She asked. She'd never considered this. After spending so much time with Sai she'd already assumed that there was something wrong with Danzou anyway, something that allowed him to make the emotionless human robots that were ANBU Root.

Drove him mad? _Drove _him?

"Who has the ability to do that?" He asked harshly, "What _Clan_ has the ability to drive you _insane_ just by looking at you?"

Sakura flinched and she looked at Sasuke who also looked stunned.

_Tsukuyomi._ She thought. _Tsukuyomi… could drive you mad… if used in a certain…_

"N-No…" She gasped,

"How would you know all that?" Sasuke asked abruptly,

"The other Akatsuki were told of Pein's plan."

"When?"

"When Itachi and Kisame were sent to collect you."

The light in Sakura's eyes died in a flash of pain, and she slid to her knees, her arms hanging limp at her sides.

"Everything… was _Pein's plan_?" She gasped, while a quieter voice in her head choked …a_nd Itachi knew about it? Itachi… he… did that?_

Sasuke hand twitched, remembering the feeling that his life was nothing but a lie constructed by and for other people. The heavy strings of fate, which he had thought had been wound in his hands, were in fact wound around his neck like a dog collar, choking him and creaking with laughter as every second they grew tighter.

"Now you really know the truth… at least let me hinder his plans, yeah. Time to cut loose, Sakura, and you know as well as I do, the only way out is death."

Sakura didn't answer, her eyes only focusing, blankly, on Deidara.

"No…" Juugo said suddenly, "Even if it does mean you're a puppet that is _no_ excuse for suicide…"

"Either I die my way, or I die _their _way, yeah. I choose mine." He said, he emptied his sackful of clay on to the floor, and proceeded to begin to feed it to the mouth in his chest. "See you on the other side, yeah."

Sakura closed her eyes.

"Katon! Goukakyou no jutsu!"

_VWOOM._

The force of a sudden blast of flames coming from the left of where they were standing was enough to knock the four of them backwards as it engulfed Deidara.

_What?_

"That's the second time you've tried to kill my little brother, Deidara." A voice said quietly, strangely clear even through Deidara's screams as he was burnt to a crisp. "There won't be a third."

_Impossible._

Sakura, still on her knees, heard Sasuke gasp beside her. It was unusual to hear any sort of sound or emotion come from him, but this was different.

She looked up at him, and she had to stop herself from gasping as she saw the utterly _destroyed _expression on his face. His eyes were that of a man in unbearable pain, whilst having no understanding of how it was happening.

_That rules out a hallucination but…_

She looked to where _that voice _had come from, and her breath caught in her chest as she recognised the broad yet slim frame, and slowly followed it upwards, analysing every inch with her Rin'negan.

_It can't_ _be_.

The further she tilted her head and the further her eyes moved upwards was confirmation, after confirmation, after confirmation. She, who'd conducted her _own_ examination on his corpse, she who had held that frame against her on a couple of occasions, she, who had kissed those lips–

Her body jerked instinctively as her eyes rested on his face, and met the eyes that had just flicked from Sasuke to look down at her. She felt like her heart stopped in that very moment, her body was buzzing, _burning_.

_It is._

Too stumped by the sight in front of her to even consider speech, she mouthed wordlessly at him for a few moments, before she stood, her legs quaking as she did so.

The tension in her neck eased as the height difference dropped considerably, and had now travelled to her chest, where her heart was pounding painfully against her newly-formed breastbone.

She tried again to speak, but Karin beat her to it.

"Uchiha… Itachi…?!"

**(A/N) Well… you wanted to know when Itachi was coming back… ;)**

**Next Chapter: Absolution **(The spoiler came last chapter 8D)


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